.
Many of us remember the protests over water charges that Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail tried to slap on the nation. What started out as a small protest of people, quickly became a massive, around the country, protest nearly in every town, issue. Objections were in their millions as people repeatedly street marched. The eventual outcome was obvious. Government backtracking had to happen – if only because they feared further local and national election losses. Some local elected (Fine Gael members, for example) left their party as soon as they saw the massive numbers turning out in street protest. Drogheda had 9,000+ on one day. Elected didn’t want to risk not being elected again – so suddenly they became “independent” – but later still backed FG/FF polices by the bucketload. They all remain drinking buddies.
In May 2021, then Michael Martin stated that water charges would not be returning (sample news link HERE), but this was and still is, the same man that has massive u-turned on many things stated publicly. So, taking his word for granted is foolish to say the least. It’s the opinion of many that he absolutely cannot be trusted.
.
.
Since the mega protests and supposed reversal decision on water charges being PR re-imposed, two things have mainly happened.
- The name of the company has been PR renamed from “Irish Water” to “Uisce Éireann” and
- For the sake of elections alone, the main parties originally involved have kept deliberately quiet about Irish Water matters.
Renamed Uisce Éireann on 31 December 2022, it was done a day before the company was split from a former parent body called Ervia. From 1 January 2023 the company became a standalone national utility for water services. It is now a separate legal, registered private company. The Water Services (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022, in theory was supposed to make the company accountable to a Public Accounts Committee (as well as being subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General) but they continue – like RTE heads who are also supposed to be better accountable – to dodge many a question and find convenient excuses to disclose other requested information.
It’s thought that the main political parties are being deliberately quiet so that company plans may continue to progress under the radar of once mass public and media awareness. If this is the case, it’s been very successful – so far – as a method to carry on what was originally planned. The imposition of water charges.
Let’s be clear about one thing at this point. The people of Ireland are already paying for their water and the systems it must flow through. Through long existing taxation setups and percentages of same funnelled towards Ireland water setup, through additional applied rates within counties, and within government gifted money to same services (that also was collected care of the Irish tax system), Ireland people have been paying for their water one way or the other. Possibly multiple times in some cases. Useful LINK.
.
.
.
“They Haven’t Gone Away Ya Know!”
The supposed disappeared charges have been subsequently undergone their own PR rename. They are now referred to as “Excess use“ water charges. The 2024 end of year report however, despite a serious lack of reporting, in text clearly shows that Irish Water is still planning to impose another payment system upon more people once again. The private registered company will get to assess what charges they will apply to dwellings and then get to chase people through the courts if they don’t cough-up.
NOTE: The Irish Water report and it’s exposing charge content, was conveniently released just one day after the 2024 general election process took place. Not before general election day! It was delayed – and delayed yet again till the expected election occurred. FF/FG weren’t taking any chances?
The same parties – Fianna Fail and Fine Gael – that are either staying quiet or busy flip-flopping for vote convenience, are still refusing to pass any form of legal legislation or allow any democratic process (though a referendum) to take place so far. Years on, they still try claiming that they will – but it’s also thought that they are trying to clever find a way to see that the private company by name or status, will be enshrined into the constitution. If they sneakily succeed in doing this, any further future government, one that they might not be a part of, will find it much harder to reverse their own legal antics.
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael know this, and want to make it happen without people realising the implications of what they will be tried PR sold. As recent Irish history has showed, when it comes to vote matters, they don’t always tell the full truth or full disclose the full legal facts.
A great deal of the Irish public who are more political aware, do want Ireland’s natural resources and state services far more legal protected though Ireland’s constitution, but what they understandably don’t want, is to have a private company shielded by it.
The excess charges still planned for, and this can be clear seen as stated in a latest Irish Water released document (see above) needs to be in place before any later possible share stock floatation that then could be tried. The private company with more imposed and (later increased) charges, would make it a far better business prospect for those elite enough to be able to private invest. Indeed, if this were to happen and there was no preceding (further) protective legislation created in the meantime, there is a genuine scenario where outside Ireland setups, even other states like China/Russia who operate through front companies, could try to obtain shares in order to gain further forms of control. It’s no longer tanks that’s just needed to take control of a country. In our modern era, it’s banks instead!
.
Meanwhile, Elsewhere…
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, enabled along the way by the Green Party and the Labour Party previously, are continuing their own self-adopted privatisation agenda (with no public consultation or democratic referendum allowed here too) of other things that are under state department remits. Many once services and people that were prior overseen by higher level civil servants and more directly controlled, have been quietly dislocated from state departments. Much has been bit by bit, quietly transferred to private companies instead. Civil servants themselves have been “sequestered” (pressganged) into such setups, all allowed by the usual too quiet parties. Some civil servants have tried to speak up about their pressganging but they then have found themselves threatened with loss of rank, pay or even built-up pensions if they further speak out and/or do not comply with a ‘requested’ (ordered) move. Restrictions have been also imposed in many cases, where they are also not allowed to even comment on the ongoing situation though any forms of social media.
Again, here too, a lot of the above has gone largely, oddly, unreported – and Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are in no hurry to rectify matter or stand up for the rights of Ireland pressganged, be it RTE licence payers, pressganged unemployed (research “JobPath” – LINK) or civil servants that have been told to move elsewhere – in many cases, longer than they legally should be reassigned. The TTIP agenda – now reworded into the CETA agenda (privatisation of state services for greater private profit) rolls on quietly. Too quietly.
Meanwhile, Irish Water has not gone away – nor has the still existing plans to more impose re-charges around water that the public is already paying for. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, plus enablers, are just keeping more quiet about it all. They learned many a lesson from their last tried effort to impose similar charges. Now, they have got even more PR professional and more silent on related matters, in how to see them non-democratic or public better informed, still imposed.
…But you are not supposed to cop on to all this, as their long existing agenda continues. The re-charge agenda hasn’t gone away ya know!
.