Govt publishes: The Water Services Bill

national | bin tax / household tax / water tax | news report

Friday January 11, 2013 22:56

by T

Sweeping powers to impose water charges

The government has published The Water Services Bill 2013 that gives it power to impose a Water Tax from Jan 1st 2014. The Bill has yet to go through the Dail for possible minor amendments. The Bill will handle our public water resources and infrastructure over to a private company that will be able to extract what essentially amounts to a form of rent for providing a basic need like water. The tax will cost at least €500+ a year although naturally the government has played down this figure.

Initially the government will take the tax as revenue for themselves but eventually this gift will be handed over to private companies.

Other giveaways in the Bill for the private companies getting the lucrative contracts to install meters at the expense of the public are the right to install meters and pipes without having to seek planing permission or permission from roads authorities to do so.

It will also impose fines of €5,000 on people who already have the debt burden of the banks, developers and bond holders on their back who refuse to allow meters to be installed on their property.

What we are likely to see is a mad dash by profiteers to do this job as quickly as possible so that they make as much money as possible and we can envisage there will be a total mess of dug up pavements, water supply interruptions for days, shoddy work and undue regard for anyone has they attempt to install these meters.

And then we move into the second phase where the State will use the full force of the propaganda arsenal at its disposal with full backing from the press largely owned by billionaires who will demonize anyone who opposes this resource grab.

A copy of the Water Services Act can be found at this link:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/Environment/Water/...n.pdf

At the moment, it is not clear whether that is the version published today.