@Joe Phillips:

If a third party company could maintain the water system more cost effectively than the government while still making a profit would you object to that?

The problem with national assets is that they without question the Irish people / government needs to maintain ownership and the assets should never be allowed to be sold to the highest bidder. However, the government is not skilled and and has demonstrated superbly well that it cannot mange these assets correctly. We need to find a solution where we still own it but outsource the management to specialist professionals. For example, TransDev manager the LUAS and by and large deliver a good service while making a profit yet the state still owns the LUAS. We need this type of public / private partnership which is a genuine partnership and not just a cover to sell of the assets or allow a private organisation to try an maximise profit from it.

@Nick Allen: ‘Delivery and maintenance of the water system’ IS and WAS already paid for.
Anything extra should be taken the same way or that should also be refunded.
We are sick and tired for paying twice and three times for everything with still the underlying issues being left unfixed.

@eastsmer:

You need to move on from that idea. There is a finite pot of money to pay for our services to be delivered and we need to pay more into the pot. It doesn’t matter what u think u have paid for nor what you have paid for we still need money to pay for our water system.

@Nick Allen: = Neo liberal lemon

@Nick Allen: IW are no more than a glorified billing company. They do nothing to maintain a system or deliver one drop of water to anyone.
This “customer” stupidity is no more than a euphemism used in an attempt to change who people think about IW.
The DSP are trying the same stupidity on people.

@Nick Allen:

Except Irish Water has already cost the taxpayer billions and has provided absolutely nothing in return.

@Nick Allen:

Yes we need to pay for our water system

But Irish Water needs to be closed.

It is a billing company set up to privatise a natural resource,.

It has absolutely no legitimacy and not a penny should ever be paid to it.

@eastsmer: The issues are very fixed now. The Water Services Bill 2017 has seen to that.
Water will be privatised. It will go the way of the ESB.
We have been royally shafted by FG/FF.
The bill was disguised as a means to pay the “refund”.
The detail, which has been kept very quite, has laid the ground for privatisation.

@Colin Morris:

Where did I say or suggest that IW was the right organisation to deliver this?

@Setrakian:

Do you know what an internet troll is? How is my comment trolling? It is simply expressing my view which is directly related to the article and the comments I replied to.

Its funny how people resort to name calling and factual inaccuracies when they don’t know enough about the subject matter nor have the ability to debate it on its merits. And it is you who offers me sympathy, thanks for that but I do feel guilty as it is you who is more deserving of sympathy

@Colin Morris: Wicklow County Council take care of the maintenance of the water system here as they always did. Only now it’s under contract to Irish Water. Every other city and county council must be the same. The only difference is there is now a third party call centre you call and they in turn call the council…… How this is more cost effective to pay over a billion euro to set up a quango to collect cash is beyond me.

@Nick Allen: you are on the journal throughout the day – every day fully supporting everything your rotten government is responsible for including the Irish Water scam. Apologies for the late reply – I’ve been busy working. You are a troll & going by most comments in response to your ignorant posts – a complete numpty. Hope that clarifies for you Nicky.

@Nick: You are flogging a dead rat mate, it’s already paid for.

@Justin Barrett:

Why? because I highlighted that some people have changed address over the last couple of years. Interesting logic there.Ah, well, if I did pay extra then no doubt I will get an even bigger refund, I wonder what I will treat myself to this xmas with the new found windfall.

@Michelle_Herbert: I got my cheque on Monday. It’s only if your address changes that you need to inform IW.

@Michelle_Herbert: they need to refund back through the same channels that payment was made. In general if people pay electronically, then their refund should return to their account, electronically.
People with no bank accounts cannot cash these cheques. Those people paid in cash in post offices. They should get refunded by the same method.

@Father Hody Commody:

They only need to refund back to the original payment method if the original payment method was a card payment

@Michelle_Herbert: There is also a percentage of us that had no choice and had to pay IW or the sale of our house could not be completed (the government made it law in January 2016) obviously we are no longer at that address so IW has to be informed.

@Father Hody Commody: you’re an idiot. Not true dumb fcuk

@Father Hody Commody: Its actually the other way around. To issue by cheque you do not need the bank account details, to do an electronic funds transfer then you do need the account details.

As a matter of interest, in your conspiracy theory what it the benefit to Irish water to have your bank account details? Unless you give them explicit permission to withdraw funds then they cannot do so.

@Father Hody Commody: you haven’t a clue. Back to junior infants with ya