SIPTU calls on Government to defer water charges and hold a referendum on public ownership
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SIPTU has called on the Government to defer the water charge payment due in Spring of 2015. SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, said that each family must be guaranteed a free and adequate supply of treated water to meet its normal domestic needs.
He said that the Government must find a way of providing for the new investment required to fund the provision of the treated water supply while retaining it in public control and ownership.
The SIPTU General President also said that recognised the “success” of the Right2Water campaign.
Addressing the SIPTU Manufacturing Division Conference on Friday (7th November), Jack O’Connor said: “The [Right2Water] campaign has already achieved victories and I want to acknowledge that, because the Ministers over in the Government would not be scrabbling around today trying to find a solution where it not for the success of that campaign to date”.
Previously, Jack O’Connor said that, “The proposed Irish Water charging structure is profoundly regressive and inequitable and that is a view shared by the tens of thousands of people who came out and protested. The impact of these charges affects those on lower to middle incomes to a much greater degree than wealthy people. There are far too many people who simply cannot pay and too many more who will find it extremely difficult to do so,”
He added: “SIPTU supports the call for a constitutional change which will enshrine the public ownership of water and its supply. This call, which has been made by the Green Party and a number of progressive organisations, will end any drift towards the privatisation of water. “None of the major political parties would openly support privatisation, some because they are deeply ideologically opposed to it, others because it would be so unpopular. Nevertheless, it will still come about by stealth and very quickly too if the citizens of Ireland do not vote for such a constitutional change”.
Jack O’Connor also reiterated the SIPTU call for a mechanism to fully offset the cost of every households ‘normal need for water’, while preserving the incentive for conservation. He added: “It's not rocket science. A refundable tax credit is the way to do it. Fiddling around with the issue won't cut the mustard. It will simply prolong the crisis. In the end, and possibly very quickly, Irish Water won't be able to collect its revenues thus rendering it insolvent and we will sleepwalk into the privatisation of public water supply”.
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