There’s a better chance of Roy Keane being named ‘Evertonian of the Year’ than of you paying water charges next year. Pardon the pun, but this Government will bottle it. It will simply back down and hope the whole thing goes away.
Once the deadline for the first payment has been extended, as it will be today, it will be extended again and again. In the end, the problem of charging for water in Ireland will be handed over to whoever wins the next election.
The reason for this is that the Irish Water disaster is killing the Government. In two weeks’ time, there are likely to be more than 100,000 people on the streets. The polls reveal that this issue is hammering the Government. The economy is turning yet the Government’s popularity is going down.
The issue is incompetence.
Once you lose the reputation for competence, what else is there? There’s no ideology, no big idea, no fairness agenda. We have a coalition government and the very act of going into coalition dispenses with charades of ideology. Every coalition government compromises on tricky, inconvenient pre-election “core values” and gets on with the job of competence.
If it fails on this score, what else is there? If it also doesn’t understand that the people are stretched to the limit with taxes and charges, it risks failure politically.
Finally, if there is a whiff of cronyism – such as a well-paid but not particularly well-qualified board, overseeing expense overruns that are, in part, attributable to bonuses intended to be paid out without merit – then what do you expect people to think?
‘Jobs for the boys’ is what we think of when we hear Irish Water.
The incredible thing is that all this needn’t have happened.
What should have been a fairly simple process of moving from one income-based water charge to another income-based water charge, with a nice little bit of 21st century meter-based conservationism thrown in, has been handled so badly that the entire credibility of the Government is going down the tubes.
The fiasco has been totally unnecessary. We already pay for water out of our taxes. Most of us understand that to get clean water into our taps and into our sinks, someone has to pay for it. We also understand the Government’s original argument that the water infrastructure is ancient and needs upgrading. Such investment doesn’t come for free.
The idea that the more water you use, the more you should pay makes sense to the vast majority of people. One last thing to get our heads around is this small item of accounting jiggery-pokery that was actually the root of the reason for setting up Irish Water.
The State wanted to take the borrowing it would have to make to upgrade the water system off the balance sheet, so that the national debt didn’t go up. This was a trick to allow the State to “pretend” it wasn’t borrowing the money. A new entity, Irish Water, was borrowing. The borrowing would be paid back out of the water charges.
This package seemed to be a saleable notion, even to a population that has suffered from austerity.
But it was a population that probably could swallow paying for water but not the excessive salaries of the consultants, lawyers and others who appeared to be the first snouts in the bonus trough.
The people then questioned, why all the start-up costs? When we already had a water system operated by the corporations and councils? Then cronyism and the lack of costs controls – precisely because it was public money – became overwhelming.
Finally, there was the sense that this company would be fattened up with ordinary people’s taxes only to be sold off to rich people via privatisation – after all, wasn’t this part of the Troika’s original script?
Within weeks, a marginal movement – which asked legitimate questions about fairness, cost and who would ultimately benefit – morphed into a mainstream movement with the very survival of the Government at stake.
This shambles seems to be associated particularly with the Taoiseach. No amount of al-fresco, back-slapping US executives can erase the incompetence.
Competence is something we all demand in everyday life. You employ the guy who can do the job. This guy inspires confidence. You know he isn’t going to mess up. Once you are confident, he has your trust.
In fact, you trust him so much that if something goes wrong on the job, you believe him when he blames the weather or something implausible. Once you trust someone or something, you then have that other essential condition, which is ‘peace of mind’.
You are assured, and by being assured you rest easy, safe in the knowledge that you are in good hands and everything will be okay. Governments too need competence, because competence is power.
Once you lose that, the perception of it, the mystic of it; everything else goes.
This is how governments fall apart. Pushing through unpopular measures in the second half of the administration is not an election-winning strategy. Napoleon once said that “to govern is to choose”. The Government has to make a choice and my money is on it choosing to scrap water taxes altogether – at least until after the next election. Even if paying for water makes economic and environmental sense, Irish Water is beyond toxic and any politician that stays near it will be so contaminated as to be unelectable.
Morning all.
Nice summary of what’s actually happening! Well done, David!
What jokes do you have in a shower ?
Clean Jokes ……unless you use Irish Water
“Finally, there was the sense that this company would be fattened up with ordinary people’s taxes only to be sold off to rich people via privatisation – after all, wasn’t this part of the Troika’s original script?”
Looks like you finally got yourself a copy of John Perkin’s Superlative work “Confessions of an economic hitman”.
All these extra charges should be called by their proper name;
Banker charges.
Michael.
David, I think also Gardai treatment of protesters has had a major impact on the growth of this movement. The frequent video footage being released of mostly peaceful protesters being man-handled by Gardai using force far exceeding what is necessary, has angered a lot of thepeople. Gardai have essentially been acting has enforcers for the government, and not protectors of the people. This aspect has also contributed to the mobilisation of many to join movement.
Here you go David, a premonition? from 2012 – http://www.diaspora.ie/starship/2012/04/change-management-courses-for-government-ministers/
David
Excellent! You’ve really got a handle on this one.
It was the race to the trough that pissed off all thinking people.
These guys act like preditors and can only function in a coercive monopoly.
By the powers invested in me and all that!
The other thing that went on here is, of course, that the sectors of society who were protected during the bust – the Pensioners, the perennial social welfare recipients, the defaulting house owner – were for the first time targeted here. The cost of this charge is tiny – compared to Dublin’s rental increases it’s less than one month increase in rent from 2013-2014. And its far less than the hit taken by higher income earners in their *monthly* wage packets for the last few years. If this charge were a tax, an income tax, and therefore “progressive” ( where… Read more »
And they have added insult to injury by their hooty-tooty intention to legislate for landlords to deduct unpaid water charges from tenants’ deposits. They’ve created a whole slew of new enemies, both tenants and landlords/ladies. The hole gets bigger and bigger.
ps I can’t see how they can kick payment deadlines beyond the next election in mid 1916, it’s too far away.
ps ps The Irish people should be commended for their restraint and good humour in the face of gardai unrestraint and snobbish disdain from their aloof politicians and RTE propaganda.
This is a good article. I just read the Trichet letter. It doesn’t go beyond insisting on ‘strucutural reforms’ among other things but even at only a sympbolic level it is significant. They would hardly, after all, commit any details to paper, even if the letter was ‘secret’, and it would have been much the same thing if it had been written by the Council of Ministers acting as messenger boys for Germany/ECB. As a wheeze to get the borrowing off the balance sheet it is obvious, now that you say it. However as a means towards privatisation and a… Read more »
The major problem for Middle Ireland supporting this “Anti-Charge” movement is that it has been hijacked by the Shinners and Socialist wanabees like Paul Murphy and other anarchists and anti-establishment movements. Middle Ireland does not seem to have a problem paying their “Fair” share of the costs associated with providing reliable, safe and clean water. As EugeneN says above, just look at the sectors who are shouting the most – those who haven’t lost a penny over the last 7 years. Nobody likes paying extra taxes, no matter what Class or side of the social divide they come from. But… Read more »
This Government, using their current mouthpiece Alan Kelly, has forgotten to mention the current offer in an “Introductory offer”.
We paid for water through general taxation, are being asked to pay “Water charges”, but will not see a refund in motor tax and VAT when the proposed water charges would be introduced.
Alan Kelly has done what he has always done, Kicked the scam down the road!
I will be protesting on both the 6th and the 10th dressed as a PIG, depicting the 4,000+ currently with their SNOUTS in the TROUGH. hope to see you all there.
“How long will the EU last? Eventually, perhaps 15 years down the track, Europe will collapse under the weight of its own corruption, bureaucracy, and regulations. There will be so few productive businesses that even at 100% tax rates we will not be able to support the massive, corrupt and wasteful government. ” (written 2005 ) “Fifty years ago our greatest threat might have been violence or mugging. Now the greatest threat to our economic well being, our way of life, our freedom and the very existence of our nation, is our own government.” “What do we want? After the… Read more »
cont… “What can you do to help? 1. Find out when your local MP holds their surgery and attend with a printout of this, and the one page summary of the EU constitution below. Ask that MP to cross the floor to be the leader of the first Anti EU Parliamentary Party (representing 65% of our nation). The publicity would be stunning, and might force an in/out vote. 2. Make appointments with your local journalists, give them the same two print outs and ask them to write about the truth about the EU. 3. Do you know anyone famous? Persuade… Read more »
“The truth is out: money is just an IOU, and the banks are rolling in it
The Bank of England’s dose of honesty throws the theoretical basis for austerity out the window”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/18/truth-money-iou-bank-of-england-austerity
I am not convinced that this whole water debacle is anything more than what Bertie The Ditherer called “smokes and daggers”, that is, as it is seen from the official Ireland and those who purport to run it. I am sure that the boffins in the Dept. of Finance and there extended family across the boardrooms of Ireland must have thought that this water debacle would be a useful exercise to convince their fellow boffins in the EU that Ireland was on script in terms of policy, conservation, green, blah de blah. Of course, the Irish solution to an Irish… Read more »
“Stamm: “I tell them if you can, put your governments and your national (central) banks under pressure to change the (monetary) policies back to (being) gold-oriented (sound money). But I realize that outside of Switzerland the possibility for an average person to put influence on their government or the national (central) bank is very small. So in that sense the Swiss system is fantastic because we can force the political elite to change policies by saying ‘Yes’ on this public vote.”
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/11/20_Swiss_Gold_Initiative_Leader_Banned_From_Televised_Debate.html
Our fascist governments and controlled press issue propaganda notices and not noteworthy news.
Tape WORM
Recently removed from a man’s brain after living there for 4 years has is medical name as :
Erin acEIeuropaEI sounds like an Irish name .Did it originate from Irish Water ?
http://news.sky.com/story/1377510/tapeworm-lives-in-mans-brain-for-four-years
The latest comments from Ming, indicate that state incompetence is the source of widespread dissatisfaction. https://twitter.com/lukeming Apart from that we have wider issues. Several government ministers have no clue what they are doing and are relying on “prepared statements” as a response to every event that arises. We have many “effectively ineffective” ministers. Minister Fitzgerald, in Justice. No clue. Minister Noonan, in Finance. No clue. Tanaiste Joan “phone” Burton. No clue. Minister Howlin in “public reform” – has ensured that there has been no reform of the institutional state. Zero. He is actually trying to do the opposite of what… Read more »
The Irish Labour Party grudgingly enduring Ming Flanagan asking questions about the head of Irish Water and his track record in public roles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JwRDTXRS8Q&
Note : McCarthy (ILP) shows contempt for Ming Flanagan, and respect for the head honcho of the super quango that is out ot control.
Thank you, David, for an honest assessment.
Once again, we have multiple BS interpretations flying around in the Irish media, that usually amount to opportunism. And none of them will tackle the issue of the Irish state and it’s incompetence, because so many of them are queuing up for a “cut of the pie”.
Thank you for simply stating it as it really is.
http://directdemocracyireland.ie/ireland-exempt-water-charging-government/
“Please read the letter by former MEP Kathy Sinnott in today’s Irish Times, which will highlight why there is absolutely no demand upon Ireland from the EU to charge for domestic water supply. Ireland is protected from the EU water framework directive regarding domestic charging by an exemption agreed in 2000, something they have remained very quiet about. More importantly, the only way that exemption can be overturned is if Ireland itself gives it up. This is why Fine Gael and Labour are running this water propaganda campaign.”
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell Quayle continues: “We are in a time of universal deceit. From the godfather of newsletter writers, Richard Russell, to billionaire Eric Sprott and others, all of them say they’ve never seen it like this. “The same people who are manipulating the gold and silver markets, the same people who have destroyed the middle class in the United States, own all the mainstream media news organizations. That’s why the truth about what is happening is concealed from the public. So, again, to keep it simple… Read more »
AS THE ‘SANCTIONS WAR’ HEATS UP,
WILL PUTIN PLAY HIS ‘GOLD CARD’?
http://www.atomcapital.co.uk/wp-content/files_mf/1416418354AR_1114.pdf
Very interesting article David as always. I haven’t commented in a long time and it’s good to see the forum is as lively as ever.
Did it strike anyone that the Govt desire to keep the cost of Irish Water ‘off balance sheet’ is exactly the same accounting technique that Anglo was using with Irish Nationwide in 2008. and we all know how successful that was.
Hogan will fit in well over there.
Goddam Suckers would not want anybody else in public office.
Let’s take the NCT example again. In the past the Gardaí (I suppose) would have checked tyres and lights. One could understand why there ‘might’ be a need for a more systematic approach towards ensuring cars are in a safe condition, but even this is arguable. I don’t recall at the time of the NCT’s introduction any clear link between it and road safety. For sure, you would hear people talking about ‘wrecks of cars’ being driven around the place but this struck me more like embarrassment if anyone from outside were to see it. So what do they do,… Read more »
Hi David I know I am off topic buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttt; Evedince of shrink flation; I just noticed theyve started having the Quality street “tin” for Xmas and I have a bet to see how much its dropped to this year and the result 780 G Its funny how the manufacturers think people wont notice its getting smaller each year its a concealed inflation they just give you less for the same price normally £5 it started about 7 yrs ago they use to always be 1KG then 950g to 900g and chnage to plastic from metal then to 880g and 850g… Read more »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myvyGl6yo64
Yes Georg, Infuriating and great video.
Paying those speculative parasitic bond holders was many orders of magnitude worse than the water charge issue,
Yet, theres actually more passion in the water charges debate. Maybe people are finally waking up and slowly getting more politically and economically aware after the years of austerity.
Eddie Hobbs was right. Schools need to teach kids about the creation of debt /money and how capitalism should work.
“The idea that the more water you use the more you should pay, makes sense to the vast majority of people.” I don’t think this is true in Ireland at the moment though it may well be in countries where the charge is already in operation and it is now seen as normal. It is true that you can convince most people of the truth of statements of this nature, at least for a while. You could probably convince them of the same statement if you substituted ‘health care’ for ‘water’, perhaps for a short while, perhaps for ever. You… Read more »
Just as we did with the financial services sector, it’s instructive to play the game of ‘follow the money’ with the private water companies: – The are private, limited, corporations, who’s goal is to maximize their return for investors, so they will maximise income and minimise costs. – They are monopolies. – It is generally understood that ‘fate’ (rainfall) is responsible for the provision of their product. – Given these three features, the business model for a water company is as follows: 1. Run down water storage, thus cutting costs and reducing supply. 2. Actively ignore leakage – i.e. get… Read more »
[…] this government: everyone knows that this will fall flat on its face, just like the debacle over water charges. I don’t know, sometimes I just despair of this crowd of wasters. They are truly unfit to […]