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Updated: 12pm
SOCIALIST PARTY TD Ruth Coppinger has said that the Government’s concessions on water charges will not appease the public.
Coppinger told Today with Keelin Shanley that the new water charges package is “like Del Boy trying to sell discounted goods from the back of a truck”.
Reports this morning stated the revised cap on charges, valid until the end of 2018, will be €60 per one-adult household, and €160 for all other homes.
The Dublin West TD said that there will be “mass refusal” of of water bills and the Government will have to listen as “we’re three bills away from a General Election”.
Earlier today, Coppinger’s party colleague Joe Higgins said he believes that the public will not accept the new package, which is due to be announced today.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Higgins said that the concessions, which will be announced at 3pm in the Dáil, are an attempt by the Government to get them “past the next General Election”.
“They are desperately casting around for something to salvage the regime of water charges,” he said.
This will not work. We have a risen people here. They want to continue to pay for their water – which they do and have done for generations through general taxation. Their measures will still be met with a huge movement of opposition.
People aren’t fools, people don’t believe the Government … When the time comes and the pressure is off. the price will rise inexorably.
Higgins said he expected a “major boycott” of the charges when bills are sent out early next year.
On the way into the Cabinet meeting this morning, Finance Minister Michael Noonan told Morning Ireland and other reporters that the Government will have to “wait and see” if the public are appeased by the latest measures.
There has been a lot of controversy, there has been a lot of things said, there has be a lot of protest and people have been quite upset with the whole process. The intention this morning is to come up with a solution and make it clear to people that we have been listening to their concerns.
Noonan added that there would be “various announcements” in relation to people who will refuse to pay the charges, but stated: “I’ll leave that to Minister Kelly.”
The Environment Minister said that the Government has spent the last number of months listening to the “genuine concerns” of the public.
Speaking on the way into Cabinet he stated:
I think this package will bring the people with us. I don’t think anything about this package will be harsh.
Tánaiste Joan Burton said that the new package has “a heavy emphasis on affordability”, referring to the rebate of €100 per household.
“In addition, if people so wish they will be able to apply for a water conservation support grant which will be paid by the Department of Social Protection on behalf of the Department of the Environment,” she stated.
Burton said the “critical issue” that has to be addressed is the fact that Ireland needs to invest “in a good clean water system”.
Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said that in “ten, 15 or 20 years we’ll be as proud of Irish Water as we are of the ESB or Bord na Móna”, which he described as “fine State institutions”.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Sinn Féin’s Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty reiterated that water charges are “a red line issue” for his party and would be scrapped if they came to power.
He added that the revenue lost by failing to introduce the charges could be recouped by progressive direct taxation.
Last night, a group of protesters staged a peaceful demonstration outside a Fine Gael meeting the Taoiseach was attending in Navan.
The Meath Chronicle reported that there were about 40 uniformed gardaí present, more than the number of protesters.
Originally published: 10am
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Charlie Haughey said we had to tighten our belts …
Michael Noonan said we had to sew up our pockets – Really lads ?
Richard Boyd Barrett claimed 140k in expenses last year. I’m sure Joe claimed something similar. Don’t let these morons claim to be in solidarity with the working man because they are hypocrites of the highest order.
Our government has now got control over all of our essentials and can ration them at will, has the electorate taken this on board?
John S care to tell what the other 164 claimed?or are you just being selective?
The other 164 are mentioned in the article?
John, you say you’re sure Higgins claimed something similar to 140k expenses, have you anything to back that up? Or are you on an ‘all lefties are bad’ buzz?
Joe Higgins and Ruth Coppinger take the average industrial wage (34k) from their TDs salaries. Paul Murphy takes the average young person’s wage (22k). The remainder of their salaries and allowances are used to fund the various campaigns which the Socialist Party/AAA support nationally and internationally. Nobody is living the high life on expenses in the SP/AAA as John S tries to claim.
Neither does the SP/AA receive the millions that FF/FG/Labour and SF receive from the exchequer each year under the Electoral Acts legislation and Party Leaders allowance.
In 2013 the figures were
FF €2.8 million
FG €4.9 million
SF €1.8 million
Labour €3.0 million
SP €74 thousand
@Youknow. ..Noonan and Burton are but he failed to mention their expenses.
id like to see the list of expenses by each politician
All the Donegal TD’s have drawn more than 200,000 each since the last election
Uncle, they’ve had control of water forever via local authorities. Electricity too via ESB. Can you tell me what rations we’ve suffered in water and electricity since the 2nd world war?
Noonan looks like Mr Bumble the Beagle, from ‘Oliver’
- Appropriate really, because they have turned the country into a Dickensian workhouse,
They are the fat, self-entitled board of directors,
And we are the poor starving urchins.
” Please sir, – can we have some more…?? ”
” WHAT……MOOOOOOAAAAARE….???? “
Coddler, they take a full salary. Same as all TD’s. They choose to spend it differently. Stop with lies if not taking their full salary, because they do. Just as Clare daly and Mick tax dodger Wallace
Cut and paste anyone?
@Coddler Joe Higgins was the only SP deputy in the Dáil in 2013 – 74,000 plus his TD salary – what did all that get spent on? – I don’t care if he says he claims 35,000 from his salary .. what expenses were claimed under the 74,000?
You know, coddler is the master of cut and paste. He hadn’t a single original thought, toe the party line. He is more whipped than any government TD.
@Jason, they did not have smart meters until recently nor did have have this urge to control every aspect of our daily lives, this control stuff is fairly recent and is part of the sell out to our European Owners. If they can get away with it they WILL ration power and water.
Pontius,
Higgins is not drawing more expenses than almost any other TD. Here’s the 2012 figures which is the latest I can find on Google:
€27k puts Higgins well down the list. Here’s the averages per party from 2012.
Party Members Total Per TD
FG 74 € 3,196,350.29 € 43,193.92
Lab 39 € 1,370,439.72 € 35,139.48
FF 19 € 1,076,131.32 € 56,638.49
SF 14 € 742,032.96 € 53,002.35
ULA 5 € 188,450.16 € 37,690.03
Ind 14 € 613,643.07 € 43,831.65
CC 1 € 15,000.00 € 15,000.00
Total 166 € 7,202,047.52 € 43,385.83
I do know that Joe drives a 10 year old Primera and lives in a modest 3 bed semi in Huntstown, D15. So the concerted attempts to smear Higgins, Murphy etc in the media are very telling. As you can see, the blueshirt flies are crawling all over this article. It means we most definitely have the establishment rattled. Roll on November 29th and December 10th!
Nurses Teachers Gardai, construction workers, everyone against austerity, etc… need to come out for one mass protest, instead of each protesting in dribs and drabs. Something like this would get the message across loud and clear, that we are finished with austerity and will not accept anymore. We’re all in the same boat after all, and should stand together.
Exactly
We need a one day shut down to show the Gov., we have had enough.
The left need to stop bickering and sniping at each other and become more united, otherwise this peaceful revolt will fail – stop bickering and get out on the streets as one massive untied group –
@ Sarge Who cares what Joe Higgins spent his money on its his money he earned it honestly, it’s about time you and your multiple personality troll friends started looking for a new PR job as your FG flagship is sinking fast. P.S I heard they have PR jobs at SF HQ if your looking for work.bye bye FG/LB
Spot on john! They are no different than the rest of them when it comes to grabbing every cent! Imagine even getting a leaders allowance ? A leader of what? All that’s wrong with these people is they thrive on people’s misery. If the water charges were dropped altogether they would have nothing to feed off! Remember it was the same bunch of lefty loonies that opposed bin charges by picketing city hall etc etc, the result? The council dropped the bin service & privatised it! Now we pay five times more! Some socialists!
I don’t care if they share some of the state loot with their “parties” etc, the point is they still claim it out of the taxpayers pockets!
Wow jason, dont let facts and logic get in the way.
The shinners are doing well above average in the expenses game – no wonder they are playing along too !
€89156
@John S. I agree, Politics is their choice of work simply because their attitude would not be tolerated in any workplace. So called Socialists but then lift the mask and they are the same as any other politician. The exception being, they cannot function as problem solvers or real leaders and thrive on the chaos they create.
The left great for the working man, but not for the men who want to work!
John Collins claimed 119k in expenses since 2011 while having the cheek to call herself people before profit ,is she apart of the AAA ?
I don’t pay my Electricity bills twice, I don’t pay my gas bills twice and I ain’t paying for water twice!! See you all on the 10th of December! This government took us all for mugs, we will see whose laughing soon!
Pso and usage, you pay for your electricity twice.
Moonshine no you don’t.PSO is public service obligation.
We pay for water to the tune of 1.2 billion through general taxation surprised you didn’t know this.I’m sure it has been mentioned a few times.
Pso is to help pay for renewables. So you are, in effect, paying twice.
PSO is in the region €6 every 2 months.
Your point is completely wrong however,would you also like to claim that paying vat is a third time,or a standing charge a fourth time?
You still haven’t addressed the fact that we pay for water through general taxation,now they want to continue taking this tax but still charge us.
And also tax the carbon tax!
I have a well, as do many people in rural Ireland, we pay for water and waste. About time the rest of the country did too.
The rest of country does through general taxation;you also contribute through your taxes that’s the cost of living in a society.You pay for things you don’t necessarily get the benefit of.
You get a 3rd of our property tax in dublin because your taxes dont raise enough
This is about more than just water now. This is about Ireland….. Beware the risen people. #DEC10
Enjoy your retirement lads as it’ll b another 50 years before yer returned to government roll on election time
Do we, the prople of Ireland not own the natural resources of this country already? The government have decided to make themselves the owners of our water and are effectively trying to sell it back to us.
Section 10 of the constitution. The government are caretakers not owners.
ARTICLE 10
1 All natural resources, including the air and all forms of potential energy, within the jurisdiction of the Parliament and Government established by this Constitution and all royalties and franchises within that jurisdiction belong to the State subject to all estates and interests therein for the time being lawfully vested in any person or body.
2 All land and all mines, minerals and waters which belonged to Saorstát Éireann immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution belong to the State to the same extent as they then belonged to Saorstát Éireann.
3 Provision may be made by law for the management of the property which belongs to the State by virtue of this Article and for the control of the alienation, whether temporary or permanent, of that property.
4 Provision may also be made by law for the management of land, mines, minerals and waters acquired by the State after the coming into operation of this Constitution and for the control of the alienation, whether temporary or permanent, of the land, mines, minerals and waters so acquired.
And we want our gas back too…
So are they invoking subsection 4?
Hi Liam, with respect to your comment on article 10, Irish people do not own water. The point of this article is to make the state the owner of natural resources e.g. if you find oil on your property the state is said to be the rightful owner of the resource. Because the state is the owner this means they are free to do with these resources as they see fit, they can sell it to the citizens, a private company, etc. Contrary to what a lot of people say this article does not prevent privatisation. If legislation on water charges was taken to the High Court nothing would happen
I think the only solution for the Government is to abolish Irish water it’s a quango, and many people genuinely can’t afford to pay.
@liam, we do own the water but would you drink it without the treatment it gets first?
The only way out of this Mr Noonan is to scrap the Quango that is Irish Water. No other option at this stage will suffice. Why cant you get this? We are not as thick as you!
It’s highly unlikely that the concessions will appease the hard pressed citizens at this stage. On the contrary, the government back pedaling shows that organized resistance works. FG/Labour would have rammed this hated banker tax down our throats without a second thought had they been allowed to.
Hundreds of thousands of people are receiving a political education on the nature of the system as they see their living standards decimated under the austerity program to pay for the systemic failure of speculative financial capitalism in 2008.
We need to ramp up the pressure even further to ensure a massive boycott of the Irish Water bills when they land on the doormats in February until this despised Fg/Labour quisling government finally get the message….No Way, We Won’t Pay anymore for the sins of the bankers.
Roll on November 29th and December 10th.
Agree (for once lol) with you Coddler. This backdown shows a weak and whimsical government who, as soon as people accept it, will revert and introduce the initial charges they they were going to charge. No legislation will stand for future Governments – they will simply change it.
FG/Labour doing exactly what they did prior to the election in 2011 and they are doing it before the next election for the same reason.
Not sure where we are headed politically, but for sure there are rocky times ahead.
At this stage their word means nothing, people are wise to the years of their broken promises. For this reason they need to go now, no one believes them or has faith in them. Now I the time they let us have our say, a general election is needed early in 2015.
They’ve done overkill on austerity, if we don’t win this battle they will always walk over us.
Aye, they went to far, for everyday folk nothing left to give is now nothing left to lose.
The people will never be with you,and if you want to appease the people,then abolish water charges.THE PEOPLE DONT HAVE ANY MONEY TO PAY In the real world,where we live,we are struggling to make ends meet.Wake up and listen to the people,because we are not falling for this,however you dress it up
I’m confused…who’s paying for the €100 rebate? Is it the taxpayer? Is it not the same thing then? Ah now. :(
The rebate is a way for them to try force people to register into a contract to pay, it’s the exact same as saying pay 160 for water or don’t register and be fined an extra 100. That money doesn’t exist.
“The rebate is a way for them to try force people to register into a contract to pay, it’s the exact same as saying pay 160 for water or don’t register and be fined an extra 100. That money doesn’t exist.”
Here is John Tierney on board an Irish Water customer.
http://i58.tinypic.com/64146d.jpg
We have paid already 1.2 billion and i wont be paying again, i will not finance this elite who have stolen our money to pay off bondholders, this blue-shirt government should resign and call an election, they have no mandate to govern …….resign today
On the 10th i hope its a call to scrap this government…along with IW..major protests needed now..flight booked for dublin.not gonna miss this one
Is Michael Noonan drawing his political pensions as well as his salary at the moment ?
‘cos that’s serious wedge if he is …
Don’t forget the dividends from the bonds he holds. He couldn’t give a crap about the Irish electorate. He has his his money and that’s all he cares about.
I will vote for Sinn Fein if they scrap the charges like Pierce Doherty said. It is a red line for most of us. We will not stand by and watch the sell off of our water. I will not buy the water that falls from the sky from Denis O’Brien or Nestlé or anyone else.
so youre gonna take the high moral ground and vote for sinn fein as a protest against the evil denis o brien.dont seem to recall denis o brien ever blowing pregnant women to smithereens,or hauling terrified mothers away from their screaming kids to be executed,but there you go,guess we all have our own definition of ‘morals’!
John when did Sinn Fein commit these acts,I grew up during the troubles.I thought it was various republican and loyalist groups that carried out these atrocities.
John Clancy u might want to look into the roots of f Gael and f failed all steeped in violence and death
Kenny, Burton and Noonan are doing a great job to encourage people to vote Sinn Fein,well done lads!
10/12/14 Irish Water be gone, fool me twice…
Michael noonan looks like scrooge, acts like him too
“I’ll leave that to Minister Kelly.” Alan Kelly can hardly speak with out fumbling through every second word due to his nervousness about lying through his teeth. The man is out of his depth and he won’t be able to answer any questions on it. When he gets pushed by the opposition, he will then be protected by Sean Barrett. Noonan is already wiping his hands this morning as he knows this and will avoid another day of answering questions himself. If this scenario was on a TV show, the viewers would be saying the story line is too far fetched.
How is 160 a year going to cover: fixing all the pipes, paying back the bondholders (as the government wants to put Irish Water on the bond market), and pay for all the employees massive salaries and bonuses? It can’t! Even if every single family registered they will be operating at a loss for the first few years when they are capped, then of course they will have to backdate those bonuses, pay to fix the pipes, and of course pay off the new IW bondholders meaning the bills will have to be increased to do this. And they will have to increase significantly! The government thinks they are being clever by luring people in with a small up front fee and pushing the real costs down the road a few years until after the next election. They are no better than loan shark companies offering you free money up front to get into a contract with them where you will be hit with big costs down the road.
He is a fool of a man.
Noonan? Yes I agree
I wouldn’t call the man who steered the country out of a recession in under 1 term a fool ! Fair dues to him
http://www.cpexposed.com/
Which of our ‘representatives’ are signed up ?
Come back eoin when your old enough to pay. U seem to call everyone u don’t agree with a fool.not very insightful
I meant Joe higgins.
Oh just because im young means I dont pay taxes no?
What has Michael Noonan done differently to what Brian Lenihan would have done ?
Why not me he followed the path laid out by FF and the troika,but as soon as they got full control look at the mess they created ie Irish Water.The clowns can’t blame FF for that monumental f***up.
Head in the sand Marshall? or have you forgotten all the debt that he magically turned into sovereign. If we have turned a corner, and everything is rosie, then why are they still managing to infuriate so many people? Don’t believe the hype.
Yes,Norman . We voted in clones of clones .
Just to add Vincent Brown on his programme last night highlighted the section of the 2013 Water Services Act which allows for the privatisation of Water.
FG claim they won’t privatise water but their spokesman refused to explain why the provision was wrote into the act.
Wouldn’t say my head is in the sand by stating a fact ? Just because It doesn’t fit people’s anti FG stance doesn’t mean it’s not fact
Marshal,I don’t support FF but it is accepted even by members of FG that FF implemented 2/3 of the necessary budget adjustments Noonan just had to stay on the track.Btw according to the ERSI the first 3 budgets introduced to FG/Lab were the most regressive in the last 7 years ie hit the most vulnerable the hardest.Also fact even if it upsets government supporters.
Marshal, economic systems, as everything else in life, goes in natural cycles – up an down boom and bust and so on and so on.
Well said Norman!
No face government supporter
Noonan did nothing. All the orders where coming from Germany. If anyone got us out of it, its a german civil servant. Thank him
Ff= you got us into this mess.
Sf = you’re all terrorists.
Ind = you’re all lefty loonies.
Standard response when Edna is under pressure
Marshal are you an idiot or perhaps a Bondholder, Noonan has gone nothing but heap pain and more pain on Irish people, preferring to take his orders from the German Witch than us. A totally useless self-important windbag. give my regards to the lads in the party next time you drop by…
Now you see what fg lab supporters think of the young in this country if not their own kids. Your opinion only matters when you pay taxes. That’s all you are Eoin tax bag.. even you didnt pay tax for what ever reason. Your opinion matters and young of this country matter more than the older generation cause its their future. Remember if you pay this water charge, it will be hiked to unpayable sums for the not do well off and for the middle income earners they will barely make ends meet. So no Joe isn’t a fool, He is being honest. I wonder what happened or when we will hear how much and who in government are tax avoiders.
Getting court orders/judgements etc. against people’s homes, and racking up legal fees for solicitors threatening letters and so forth will not help Irish Water get the 10 billion they need from the angry householders who marched in O’Connell Street.
Nor will it help the re-election of any political parties who support such measures.
This corpse stinks no matter what you do with it.
Have the sound judgement to bury it now or face dire consequences in 1916-or earlier if the government falls on this issue.
Remember how he treated Mrs .Mc Cole as she was dying.
Of course I’m not stupid so is the people of Ireland! Irish water RIP.
Primetime is prime propaganda. What on earth was Gemma Hussey looking and talking like Margaret Tatcber doing on there ? She got more speaking time than Paul Murphy an elected TD. Pat Rabitte lying through his teeth. 2 people in the audience given littke time to speak. One person talking about restaraunts closing. Who goes to restaraunts anymore. If you want your restaraunts to stay open you must stand against this disgusting metered water so that the average person can afford to go to a bloody restaraunts !
I saw that last night, we sat there discussing what a horrible out of touch auld FG biddy she was….
She was rolled out to look all, grandmotherly, instead she came across as a BULLY. At one stage Paul Murphy was taking and she talked over him continuously. He could not finished ONE sentence. I’m done with this type of politics.
Regarding her argument re ‘violent protests’, what a idiotic childish stance.
The Car banging and balloon throwing was out of order. But what to you expect from a country wide grassroots movement, the govenment have managed to enrage a wide disparate groupings of people for many many reasons (can’t pay, privatisation, PPS etc etc) and the government is still NOT listening.
All this media focus on the few rare misdemeanours is childish and painful. Reason, in ANY disparate collection of people you will have good & bad eggs… as proven by the Garda that flung that woman at a bollard.
What they are at now,is to try to suck people in to registrar but we all know that the prices will quickly increase as time goes on,and we will be trapped,it won`t work people are not fools,Kenny and co. have lost all credibility at this stage.
Astounding that a government can act like the bogeyman enticing children in with sweets. We all understand completely that once we are in we have condemned ourselves to a lifetime of water debt. Ever increasing bills and charges just to keep water in our homes? I will not sell out my children’s future . We will take back our country and our water and the people who tried to hang this on us will have to live with their own consciences, traitors all of them.
The politicians are trying to portray this as a fight for votes between one faction and another. It is not that it is people versus politicians and the sooner they they get this into their thick heads the better. Some politicians are latching on to either side. Roll around the next election , the sooner the better, and we will stuff them all. Scrap Irish Water is is a daft concept and just another quango for the boys.
Why are those reporters so close to a 65 yr old woman .. Can they not see that the poor soul is suffering from PTSD.
Politician To Stand Down …is that what it is Why ?…OOOOOH I Hope I am right !
“You can fool some people some times, but you can’t fool all the people all the time… Get up stand up, stand up for your rights, don’t give up the fight” rip bob marley
WE WILL NOT PAY .. journal stop the propaganda now or we will be protesting outside your office next..
Hi Ben….I don’t get it….I find the journal really very well balanced. Correct me if you, or others, think I’m wrong….If I’m missing something then I would be the first to blast them, but I can’t see any slant at all in their reporting – maybe I’m not on often enough to see it??
There is a protest organgised outside the Quango that is Irish Water for 29th November at 2pm. For those of us who are (thankfully) employed Dec 10th is a work day so we may not be able to attend . However, I will definitely be outiside this Quango on 29th and will join in every protest against it until I see it abolished. Enough is Enough!
What do you expect to achieve by chanting at an empty building?
Leinster House was empty on the first march when over 100,000 marched by it.
They have pushed the Irish people to far and have awoken a dormant animal, the real celtic tiger, the hearts and minds of the people, we have finally been fed enough sh*t from these clowns in government to say that enough is enough.
It’s time for change
See you all on the 10th
We won’t pay and you can do whatever you want. We won’t pay and provoking the people will not be a good idea
I would like to say thank you to Mr Noonan, you have obviously been listening very carefully to the people, heard what they had to say, taken on board their very real concerns.
I would like to……but can’t, the ‘wait and see’ comment sums it up for me
The message from the Irish People has been peaceful, LOUD AND CLEAR!
You and your government are either completely delusional or ignoring the will of the people, either way, you are unfit to govern, and have lost the mandate given to you by the electorate. The general population have no trust and no goodwill left.
Personally, I think the government is doing the anti-charges campaign a great service, every time a minister opens their mouth.
The house tax was €100 the first year
Mr Noonan knows full well what we have protested for which is abolition of IW. This buy now but pay & pay & pay again in 3 or 4 years time will not quell the justified anger expressed by the peaceful majority. They can fluich themselves from a height. Not paying now or ever. Their legislation is not worth the paper it’s written on.
They all look a tad stressed..facing P45s in the face……
SIPTU were on RTE this morning demanding a continuation of bonuses etc. for Irish Water staff.
Will this Zombie quasi-Quango linger on, sucking money out of the taxpayers pockets like the Electronic voting machine racket where the cronies of Fianna Fail bought warehouses and had them paid for by the state (with long term, guaranteed rental contracts )
By the time the useless machines were scrapped, the party crony landlords had made another killing on the incompetence.
Those responsible are now retired to sunnier climes,just as the present bunch of incompetents will all be long gone when the bills come in for bonuses and salaries and perks for the foreseeable future for Irish Water staff.
Could some intrepid reporter get hold of the contracts under which these Zombies are now employed.?
Liars liars liars ….. Every one if them lists and traitors. Gemma Hussey on Primetime ffs, on her TD pension telling us the sooner the better we bring in water bills ?? Maybe RTE are actually trying to incite a revolt ?
The Game is up .
Does this Government really think the Irish people are fools?
As soon as they can, they’ll hike the charges.
As soon as they can, they’ll privatise Irish Water.
WHY WASTE money on meters if its going to be a flat rate charge ??? (cus they’ll be handy when its privatised)
This isn’t the irish people against enda… It’s the irish people pushing enda to go back to the troika and tell them he can’t deliver… He will do every thing in his power to put them ahead of us, this will get nasty
Not only did they stay silent on it Norman, they actively participated in the concealment of it.
Sorry my post above is in the wrong position – don’t know how that happened.
Padraic that’s a truth that none of our political parties will address.They are all guilty of enabling the abuse of children.
Who cares about party facts and figures. This is another black tax which wont be spent on its stated intension. Its a debt recovery tax exactly like property tax, prd, usc. Its fat cats making money and Joe soap picking up the bill. Dont pay !!!!
The 10th was a bad idea too many people working
Miriam o Callaghan basically said on Primetime , if there are not many people at the next protest they will take it they have won ! We must protest on the 10th in massive numbers, all of us wonderful peace loving Irish citizens that are the true owners of Irish water. Let us show them some real Irish pride, we have been trampled on for far too long !
Anyone who voted for these communist losers expecting a better life in return is pretty stupid. Do a quick survey of where on Earth life is good, it sure ain’t in North Korea or Cuba.
yawn….comparing a modern irish socialist to stalinism, Change the record.Try arguing against their policies, you know? debate some points maybe?
”they’re not just any lawnmower engines rodders…..,they’re broken lawnmower engines”
Not one protest yet outside SF offices about the movement of child abusers into this country. No uprising in Dundalk or Louth…
What about all the abused ppl in the republic state under FF AND FG??..piss right of now with that statement
The a different article no face fg supporter
O’Reilly and will a protest be organised outside the offices of all other political parties who sat in the Dail since the foundation of the state despite reports dating back to the 30′s of abuse of children in the care of the church they stayed silent.
“Not one protest yet outside SF offices about the movement of child abusers into this country. No uprising in Dundalk or Louth”
That no one would include you too O Reailly, why haven’t you protested? because it’s easy for you to mouth off on the internet like a coward. So put up or shout up you fool!
Man the FG trolls are ruining every discussion…
o reilly , your set against any other party thats not ff or fg , your an absolute snob , and a goon!! get a life and stop looking down on people who have to protest to get rid of taxes they cannot afford
I’ve 2 questions for ye:
1) If the government rolled back on water charges immediately, would ye be prepared to vote for them come the next general election?
2) Whats ye’re views on how the Irish water supply should be fixed? Clearly it’s broke and in bad need of upgrade but the 34 local councils that have responsibility for them currently are fully incapable of doing that. For example, my friend works for the EPA. He told me about a meeting he was in recently where they were told that the filters in the water supply plant of a certain local authority have not been changed in 30 years when in fact they’re supposed to be upgraded every 3-4 years.
And please, reasoned debate on this, no need for name calling or the likes.
Does anyone pro government have a face
10-12-14
Power to the people
Here’s a mad idea, assuming there’s say 2 million homes in Ireland each of which will recieve €100 of our taxes back from the “government” (I use the term government loosely) to pay to IW, which comes to €200 million per year. Say instead we use this each year to replace the old pipes and upgrade the system while the TAXES WE ALREADY PAY FOR WATER continue to run the system as it is.
have your say