Eurostat Water Charge Ruling A Damp Squib Or Game changer – Crowe

Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has said the Eurostat ruling on Irish Water is much broader than  the government spin would have us believe.

Speaking after the ruling was published Crowe said that the Government is now trying to portray  the Eurostat ruling as a damp squib but it has the potential of being a game changer. The findings puts their plans into complete disarray and moves us closer to the day of
abolishing Irish Water and Water Charges.

Deputy Seán Crowe said;

“The Eurostat ruling on Irish Water goes much further than the leaks from Government would have us believe. Their plans are now in complete disarray.

“Essentially Eurostat has ruled that the Government had too much control over Irish Water; that Irish Water is merely re-organising previous work done by local government that the majority of its staff are from local government; that there is too much funding and too many grants from government to Irish Water; that prices are too low and the cap on fees protects too many; and that not enough people are paying for their water.

“That means that in order for the Government to keep Irish Water off balance sheet, as it claims it was trying to do, then it would have to privatise and cede control of Irish Water, get rid of the so called conservation grant, raise the existing charges getting rid of the cap and force a lot more people to pay their water charges.

“The Eurostat letter shows that Finance Minister Noonan and other Government Ministers have been blatantly misinforming about the true nature of the decision. In contrast to the Government spin that Irish Water is at 48% of the required 50% test for revenue raised independent of government backing, Eurostat states clearly in black and white: ‘That, if more realistic or prudent capital costs were considered, the ratio would then fall to 27%.’

“This is a hugely important statement that shows Irish Water falling far short of being considered ‘off book’.

“Contrary to Government spin, Eurostat make it quite clear that Irish Water is a very long way of reaching any sort of so called ‘off book’ status. Their report is a damning attack on the Irish Government’s incompetence and shows quite graphically  that their sums simply don’t
add up.

“The Government needs to go back to the beginning, abolish Irish Water
and  scrap water charges.”

“That is what Sinn Féin would do if we were in Government.

“We would establish an Independent Commission to examine the best public governance model, call a referendum to enshrine the ownership of water services by the Irish people in the constitution and abolish the double tax.

“It also exposes their misinformation campaign, 27%, not 48%, is the relevant figure as far as Eurostat is concerned.

“The Eurostat report is a brutal critique of a failed, misconceived and stupid ploy to get Irish Water through its first couple of years. Government incompetence has sunk that prospect now. Following the release of the Eurostat decision it is long past the time that  the Government stopped the spin, admitted defeat and abolished both water charges and begin the wind down ofthe failed entity that is Irish Water.”