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Updated 21.07
IRISH WATER IS to create 1,600 jobs as part of its nationwide metering programme.
The company, which has been tasked with overseeing the metering ahead of the introduction of charges late next year, said that jobs will be available across the country and recruitment begins immediately.
The first of the positions will come on stream within the next few weeks, and the installation process will run until September 2016. More than one million water meters will be installed outside of homes around the country and it is expected that Kildare will be the first county to receive the meters.
A total of 25 per cent of the jobs are to be allocated to unemployed people, graduates, school leavers, and small businesses.
John Tierney, the head of Irish Water, said that creating a national water utility was “one of the biggest tasks ever carried out in the semi state sector”.
Around 27,000 meters are to be installed every month.
The Department of the Environment confirmed earlier this week that the charges would apply from the fourth quarter of 2014, with the first bills issued the following January.
- Additional reporting by Christine Bohan
- Originally published 09.02
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I don’t mind paying for quality water, but I will resent being forced to pay for the chlorine & limescale ridden gunk that oozes out of my taps,
You already do in general taxes. But that money now belongs to the banks.
*salutes General Taxes*
Ah sure we’ll just do away with the chlorination and leave in the micro organisms and bacteria, a bit of E coli never did anyone any harm.
The money is being taken by the banks. It doesn’t belong to the banks. They don’t know how else to get money directly from you to fund the county councils. This is a complete PR scam to push the obligation onto people to pay their rates and water taxes all for the supposed greater good of the so called 1600 jobs when it’s to pick up the tab for the bond holders. It’s a cheap and nasty trick. What about the people who can’t pay? What about the quality of the water? It’s terrible. It tastes of bleach, damages your health and in areas where the water is hard it burns your skin, your children’s skin, your central heating breaks down, your appliances need to be replaced more often.
What a complete scam at the highest levels.
Crystal Clear will fill a 5 liter bottle for €1.20, its tap water with chlorine filtered out, it was signed safe to drink by the County Council during the cryptosporidium outbreak, the point is if this company can filter it at the enduser why can’t the Council?
@Rodger. Water is treated with chlorine during the treatment process to kill microbes, bacteria, viruses and all the other nasty crap that was present in the raw water, this is a common practice for treating water all over the world. The residual chlorine remaining when it reaches our homes is almost undetectable, and its perfectly safe for drinking.
We have a pretty good standard of drinking water piped into our homes in Ireland compared to our European neighbors, although some people still expect Ballygowan to be piped into their homes
You need chlorine to kill bacteria in the pipes but if you want you cold fit a carbon filter for drinking water.
Filtration of this kind is super expensive and you produce more waste water then filtered. We buy filleted water in the lab and comparing it to unfiltered there is a good 600% difference in price. To get rid of the chlorine let the water stand for 24 hours and it’ll bubble out. Not ideal but best option considering.
The water in Irish taps is significantly better quality than most places I’ve been around the world. You’re just looking for another reason to complain. A common theme on the Journal..
John come to my house in Laois and look at the state of my water. We have hard water where we have to change a kettle every 2 months. Brown water every couple of months. I will gladly pay for water that is not going to damage my families skin and health and that will not rot my appliances away but I will not pay for the sh#te that comes in through my taps at present.
He should be busted to Private at this stage.
Conor, agree 100 PC…this is about the height of job creation that FG/ Labours election manifesto promised….create more jobs by fixing poor existing system rather than taxing people to pay banks…criminals in govt
What about the chlorine, your talking through your fanny
Really??You should see the state of the five stage filter system that I installed to purify that chlorinated,flouridated muck that passes for water in Clare..Some days the water literally stinks of chlorine and has froth in it when it is coming out of the tap and settles in a glass.
Put a UV light system on the water line and that deals with any bacteria without poisioning yourself and family with toxins.
As for Ballygowan pumped into your house.Go to Germany.The tap water is certified food grade over there and thats in cities like Berlin that refines it drinking water out of its waste water that has been used in fish and sewage farms.Buying bottled water in Germany is just a waste of money.Granted you pay for it,but you know it is potable unchlorinated or flouridated. Until Ireland can produce that quality of drinking water ,Irish water can go FUK!!
So 1600 joibs for people who will have no bother making a living on the back and misery of their neighbours.Shame on them! “Its only a job and I’m trying to make a living.” Is no excuse..Not to far off then “I was only following orders”
General Taxes, I Mean
as Heather replied I didn’t even know that a mother can earn $8986 in a few weeks on the computer. did you read this site link… www.Can99.com
don’t bother applying for these jobs ; There are far better ones in Saudi Arabia fitting Sand meters !
And do you know why ; because the arabians have also got a labotomy .
Parish pump politics was actually about providing free water to the public ; this is about selling your rain to bondholders !
There is a zero cost of supplying that which falls out of the sky into a pipe that already exists .
Keep paying for your stupidity Paddy !” the British Empire was built on your beef while you dug rotten shit out of the ground and fed it to your soon to be dead kids !
The English know that we are genetically stupid and genetically impotent ! Europe have just got in on the act !
Water charges mean you are paying for gravity; what a dumb bunch of simpletons inhabit the island. !
Poverty will starve you to death and you deserve it ; It’s called evolution ; destruction of the weakest !
150 cops kept 20,000 strikers in starvation during the lockout !
Paddy no brain ! Dig for peanuts paddy – you genetic misfit!
Hey while I’m at it I hear there’s a free bottle of beer at the opening of a can of beans up the country ; you should go to that while I familiarise your child with my cock; he’s a fine fellow the chickens and hens love him ! Great eggs !
we’re mighty criac altogether ! Oh look a link to robbie keanes dog let all decide his name as if robbie or anyone else cares what you think !
Now I’m off to an orgy with sean fitzpatrick, his jury and your daughter !
Ok, someone defo check this lads water! Think its been spiked with LSD!
it’s called sarcastic overkill !
still ; selling water to the irish is like selling sad to the arabs ; i’m not falling for it are you ?
Here is one of the ancient rules of Ireland ;
Never refuse a man a drink of water ; be he friend or foe !
Those who enable the taxing of water and selling the profits to private enterprise are inviting a whole lot of bad luck on themselves !
@ Richard I rarely if ever post here for the reason you have outlined. But without hesitation I feel strongly enough to register my dissent somewhere on the water taxes as being a tax too far. So yes you are dead right – I am complaining and will keep doing so on this issue.
Surprised ( maybe not ) that the comments are not more up in arms about the water tax….an island surrounded by water that rains most days and we cant harvest a natural resource….paying household tax/property tax and getting no value out fo it……a nation of sheep and keyboard warriors…..,most irish people have not protested either on streets, to their represenatatives so the screw will continue to be turned by FG/Labour
I don’t understand, I’m on holidays in Italy and a country that is extremely hot, drinking water is free flowing from fountains all over the country, clean and easy to access. Reminds me of summers of going to the local pump and cooling down with some ice cold fresh spring water. The council have even taken that away. This whole meter thing is a racket!
Italian households pay for water and have done so for many years, just like most countries.
Yes, Reg, and in return they get a top quality system. I’ve been Italy for two months now. This morning, I looked out my window to see brand new pipes being installed under the street. When the charges system is in place in Ireland, I expect to see a high quality water distribution system put in place in return. Time will tell, I suppose…
That’s a very simplistic view of things George. It was a huge mistake to abolish rates in 1977 by Fianna Fail and I hope people remember this when parties make promises before the next general election. Taxes have changed over the years but so have the services that are provided. Do the education and health systems cost the same to run as back then? Of course not.
if the used the money the are spending for metering on new pipes wher needed or repairs it would solve the proplem
Italians don’t drink tap water they drink bottled water, at least in the north any way, and yes they use springs as a source for drinking water but from the tap I’ve never seen it and yes I go to Italy a lot.
George your are dead right. It’s greedy government bleeding the people dry.
I never said that rates were used to pay for education and health George. You made the point about VAT increasing when rates were abolished and I made the point that taxes change just as the cost of running services change.
You’re right, Gigi. Then again, when you can buy 2 litres for 20 cent, one can see the advantage. However, as Darren originally said, there is a high quality system of drinking fountains around the country, which are free and widely used. Will we get something like that for our water charges?
I am not so sure George. For quite a while most people paid quite low rates of personal taxes. Fianna Fail used the taxes from a property ponzi scheme (borrowed money) to lower/subsidize personal taxes. Income taxes did need to lowered at the time but they went too far. The national debt is something like 200 billion. About 60 of that is bank related and about half of that relates to Anglo alone!
This is one thing I have never understood. Why in Ireland there are no public fountains and till now the water was free of charge.
I suppose because if you need a glass of tap water you can come in a pub and ask for it? Do they mind? I have never tried to ask.
Usually bars in Italy they are reluctant if you ask for a tap water and they see you as a beggar.
We have to look also to the other side of the coin. in some places in Italy, especially in the south the water infrastructure is old and there is more leakage than the one goes into the tap. In other areas, water is taken by big firms to do their business, so you don’t get too much water. There are some rural areas where there is no water meter and they have still to pay for a flat rate even if they have drops of water from their tap. I have to ask my parents how much they pay for the waters in Italy :-)
Reg,
Around €100 billion of Ireland’s national debt is a result of the bank bailout, not €60 billion.
The National Pension Reserve Fund was raided for €17.5 billion transferred to the European Financial Stability Facility & Mechanism (EFSF&M) funds.
The EU then generously allowed us to borrow €67.5 billion from the EFSF&M which we are paying back with interest. €64 billion of this has been used directly cover private and illegitimate banking debt. In this way the EU gets to have the eurozone banking system stabilized at the expense of the Irish people and we get to pay for the privilege via the interest we pay on the debt.
This does not include the €32 billion also borrowed that we have pumped into NAMA to indirectly prop up the banks by taking the bad commercial property loans off their books.
Adding the 3 figures together (17.5 + 64 +32) gives a total cost of around €113 billion and counting for the bank bailout so far. Most of this money has been borrowed and the interest payments make up a major component of our annual budget deficit. This is why we are seeing the vicious cutbacks to our social support structures and having massive tax increases imposed on us including the Home tax this year and the Water tax next year .
@George O’Neill, water charges were only abolished in Ireland in 1997:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
Wikipedia is great, but here’s a more reliable source too:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWRD/903845-1112344347411/20424161/31203ARDenoteWRMEIScott.pdf
Reg, when were these low rates of personal tax available. I was alive and working in the seventies and was paying 48 per cent on a very low wage.
@Coddler O’Toole – “The EU then generously allowed us to borrow €67.5 billion from the EFSF&M which we are paying back with interest.”
Do you know a source of funds that we could borrow and not pay interest on? I think you’ll find that we always paid interest on the money we borrowed no mattter who gave it to us. And the fact is that once the rate was reduced down back in 2011/2012 sometime, we were actually borrowing money at a much lower rate than anybody else would give us at the time.
Jim, we are borrowing money to pay back a banking debt that is not ours to pay. If the interest rate was zero, it would still be wrong. When we controlled our own currency we had no need to borrow that currency externally as we could create punts ourselves. When we borrowed on the markets it was by choice and the interest rates paid was low to reflect this. We have been effectively locked out of the financial markets now because we have been forced to load a 100 billion of others debt onto our backs in a currency we don’t control.
The majority of our debt is not banking debt. It has made things a lot worse, I won’t argue that point, but in the year 2010 even without banking debt we ran a budget deficit of over 12% of GDP. This was completely unsustainable on an ongoing basis. Our economy was collapsing in 2009 and 2010 and we would have had to cope with severe adjustments no matter what happened with the banks.
But bankers and bondholder are easy excuses to use to constantly deflect from this fact. There is a clever narrative out there that says every cutback has gone to pay bondholders. It’s nice and simple and is easily manipulated to make people angry the whole time. But the fact is that it’s not the reality. Of course it also does mean that we can allow ourselves the luxury of blaming everybody else for problems that were of our own making.
The simple fact is that a lot of people in this country lived very well during the Celtic Tiger years and were dismissive of anybody who warned that things were getting out of control. We didn’t want to hear and we elected politicians who actively encouraged us not to listen to it. Now of course its fashionable for everybody to say that only a few did well out of the Celtic Tiger years. You’d actually think that the whole thing had never happened to listen to some people.
We’re are great at blaming everybody else for our problems and not learning anything from crash after crash. After the recession of the 80s you’d think that we would have been sensible when things turned around. But we weren’t. And its fairly obvious from the way populism still continue to rule here that we will learn nothing from this crash either and in fifteen to twenty years time we’ll probably be back in the exact same mess all over again.
Reg, inflation causes prices to go up over time, and as VAT is calculated on the price of a good, then logically VAT intake has risen with inflation and not stayed the same as when rates were abolished and VAT was increased by 2%. I am sorry but your argument above makes no sense. This is now a triple tax. Property tax, water charges and the initial 2% VAT increase.
I hope that the main thing gained from water metering is that it will escalate the fixture of leaks thus reducing the cost of suppling water to the public.
You’d like to think that. But it won’t.
Not a hope
Just another company for the government to sell in the future
Spot on,it looks like up to 47pc of the public water supply could be lost through leakages,taking the cost of storage and treatment,the cost of neglecting to replace old damaged pipes must be enormous,i assume Irish Water will take on this responsibility.
Phil’s foot-soldiers assemble!!
Heil Phil!
Heil Phil!
It’s already sold Matthew.
Along with our homes, our land and our natural resources.
We are renters from here on.
Irish Water has not been sold as yet GIY13 – but it will be & in a very underhand manner. Irish Water is being established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bord Gais – and we know Bord Gais is set to be privatised – yet there has been little in the way of public discussion as to the implications of privatisation for Irish Water.
While I would pay for water from a publicly owned utility (especially if they removed the fluoride from it) but there is no way I, in good conscience, could pay charges to a private company & enrich the same speculators who banjaxed the Irish economy in the first instance.
The decision to sell a resource absolutely vital to national well-being, as is the case for water, is not one for government executive to take alone – but requires the consensus of the people as a whole. Therefore, I personally will not be paying water charges to a private company without a referendum on the matter first……
Absolutely.
Excellent point, leakages should be fixed ASAP.
Leaky water mains were and are still neglected by local authoritys all over the country,but especially in the Dublin area because they said it was just too expensive to replace entire old rotten systems,if a private company can raise the necessary finance and suceed where the state has failed, i think it would be a possitive devolepment.
Just like our telecoms infrastructure…
Gathering, how is it your home if someone else built it and a bank loaned you the money to buy it?
Unless you built it yourself and paid for it upfront or you paid off your mortgage and you owe no one anything?
not a chance.
Relevant
Mick Mulcreevy, let us test these new democratic freedoms we are alleged to have. Let us petition Europe, our Government and the constitutional convention to have this vital resource kept in public ownership and eff the grooms and their paymasters.
Agreed Sheik – and the issue of water privatisation presents an excellent opportunity to test these democratic freedoms. While I believe there is merit in petitioning various bodies – more effective would be a majority of citizens refusing to pay any water charges until their wishes are taken into account. To paraphrase the American revolutionary slogan of the 1770′s – there should be no payment without representation……
“No taxation without representation”
This is a tax noting more nothing less
A good tax, yes. but it wont be collected and used to improve our water network I agree. (try and green or red thumb that)
It is no coincidence that the man put in charge of Irish Water is the same man who sold off Dublin’s bin collection service. This has turned into a fiasco. It’s obvious what his remit with our water is though – get the company up and running, then sell it off for a few billion. The few billion will then go towards paying Bondholders/Banks, debt which does not even belong to the Irish people. Whoever buys Irish Water will immediately put up the price charged to the consumer and charge a premium for this vital commodity. Being a private company only interested in profits they will cut off homes in their thousands when they can’t pay. Winners: German/French water companies. German/French Bondholders. Losers: The people of Ireland
John Tierney. What a guy –
The former Dublin City Manager has a bit of a mixed record – according to Broadsheet.ie -
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2013/02/18/chief-running-water/
- Mr Tierney was forced to apologise after Dublin City Council was accused of mismanaging public funds, following an official audit of the €80million spent on the Poolbeg incinerator project. The audit, which came out last December, found the council’s handling of the project was weak and inadequate.
- Last November, Mr Tierney became embroiled in a row which developed after a TG4 documentary Iniuchadh Oidhreacht na Cásca about a proposed development on Dublin’s O’Connell Street/Carlton site, which encompasses the 1916 buildings on Moore Street. The documentary alleged a continuing cover up involving officials in Dublin City Council over a secret deal with developer Joe O’Reilly to sell the site to O’Reilly’s Chartered Land and buy it back at a potentially higher price.
- In December 2011, Mr Tierney invoked a veto introduced by former environment minister Martin Cullen to overrule a Dublin City Council vote 52-50 against the sale of its waste-collection services to Greyhound. This was despite the fact Greyound was, in 2009, forced to pay back €1.3million to Iarnród Éireann – which had hired it two years previous – because of inadequate services. In January 2011, Greyhound was forced to pay €9,000 in fines and costs to the Environmental Protection Agency for breaches of its licence to run a waste facility in Clondalkin, Dublin.
Interesting Terry. Looks like he ticked all the boxes then, just the man they were looking for to “manage” Uisce Eireann
Terry he was also the city manager for Galway during there water crisis
John Tierney ; it’s sad what happened to him !
It’s not often you see a job announcement for such a large number of positions. Normally it’s just 100 or 200 jobs announced so in one sense this is great news.. On the other hand, anyone who works for this company in a customer facing role will have a tough time of it. They’ll be about as popular as a clamper..
We have a funny attitude to water here , I know its unpopular to charge and none of us want water bills , but we already pay through taxes to get water processed to the point of being drinking quality from taps , and then we use it to water the grass ,clean the car and plenty of other pretty wasteful things ,then we spend over a euro on small bottle of still water in spar and yet a pint glass of tap water n ice from home works perfectly well…maybe when there’s a water bill some people won’t treat the home tap water quite as waste fully as they do at the moment…wait n see I suppose
This will cost more to impliment than it will ever bring in and will then be sold off at a bargain price just like water in the UK where French and Arab companies are wringing out the Brits.
And just like the Energy division of Bord Gais now. Will be sold to the highest bidder, sod the consequences.
Wow. Jobs funded by water bills to employ workers to gouge taxpayers to pay said bills,
One has to be suspicious about anything Irish politicians hail as a conservation attempt as its sure to be just a sly tax. We will be faced with some private company full of wanabee police persons threatening householders with dire consequences if bills are not paid.
It’s only a matter of time until they find a way to tax the air we breath.
Most of them workers will be let go when the meters are installed so it is short term gain for long term pain
Another way for the insiders to set up a state company and pay themselves a fortune. Eventually they will privatise Paddy Water to make more money for CEO et al, profit then goes to ECB to repay bailout of private banks here and in Germany. Meanwhile we get screwed over again. Sod our galant allies in Europe. The Government should remember they represent us not the Troika.
400 jobs for graduates and long term unemployed??? 400 scam bridge internships more like it with extremely low chances of getting a job afterwards.
This whole thing stinks.
Is there digging etc involved in putting in these meters or is it a simple connection to the pipes out at the footpath in front of the house?
diggin up and replacin stopcock with a meter, then when that is finished we are still losin the same amount of water as there is never a leak between the mains and the house;35% of water is lost in leaks in the mains this has been proved its just another tax to pay bondholders;
Cheers Frank.
Full them all in with cement. All of them. We should have a national campaign. Bloody IMF making us pay for water.
*fill
The PR spin for selling off state assets is “job creation”.
It was the same with the Property Tax – jobs created at the call centre to register peoples bank account details, to which perpetual payments occur to international bankers.
The treasonous privatisation of our entire nation to the international banking dynasties is incredibily sad – how will we explain this to our children.
Smoke and mirrors….. What a load of bull!! At least the fluoride is free…..
What I want to know if a family can’t pay there water bill will they be cut off from one of lifes basic elements the sun and air charges will come next then a big fat increase in every budget are we all stupid we have the money out only problem is we keep giving it to unsecured bond holders in Germany
It’s happening in Athens right now. 200 homes cut off on 30 degree heat. It’s only a matter of time till it happens here.
A report last month said that people who did not pay their bills would have their water pressure reduced. So water not cut off but a reduction in service.
Don’t know how true this is though.
Resist water taxes, boycott companies involved in metering
Those are not jobs. They’re paid for by taxpayers so it’s basically giving 1,600 people on the dole a massive payrise.
As are all public servants. Money back into the economy = step to recovery.
Amazing, why didn’t I think of that. The government can just take all the money from those of us working, and give jobs to those without a job. Problem solved.
It’s like you’ve figured out step 2…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO5sxLapAts
Haven’t they been trying that for the past 5 years and failing?
A massive payrise? What a load of BS! They’ll be doing a job so they deserve a wage. They’re not being paid to do nothing you know.
Also, it’s 400 jobs to go to the unemployed. Not 1600, Ciaran. As someone else said, they will be as popular as clampers.
So only people who already have jobs are allowed to apply for the other 1200?
Just another scheme to pay the gambling debts of our banks. Will the Paddies rise up and protest ? No. So let’s not go on about water charges in these fora for the next 12 months and just agree that we will pay it.
happy to pay for water!
I say you are happy to pay for sex also.
wow, thats hilarious.
I love red thumbs. hit me up Biiiiatttcheess
Water charges, household charge, property tax, septic tank charge, then they wonder why we have nothing left to spend?
Thanks also to EU, ECB, IMF for that
Great news and maybe it’ll stop people wasting massive amounts of water.
So lets get this straight , the state i.e. every citizen is paying for these water meters to be installed
Then the government are going to sell off the company after all the infrastructure has being installed to the private sector so they can make money
The other 75% of the jobs will be fairly awarded to those who are in the know i.e. related to someone connected politically.
Just got the list of who got the tenders. A lot of northern Irish companies on there! Bloody disgrace! Could have been good news for a lot of unemployed Irish plumbers.
When the meters are fitted and the plebs are laid of the dole numbers will mot creep up as much if you are correct can you not see the sneakiness in that ploy
Welcome to ROTHSCHILD WATER
They’ll be along time banging down my door trying to get in to install a meter ! Because I’m not opening the door!! It’s ridiculous paying for water they tried it years ago and here we are back at square one its a joke!!’
@Marian Doherty:
“they tried it years ago and here we are back at square one”.
Yes, and I was one of those FOOLS that paid those water charges. After they were abolished and those who didn’t pay were never pursued, I never received a refund. Now they want me to pay again! At the very least I should receive a credit of IR£275 against these new charges. This government is just EVIL. I can’t wait for the next general election.
Marian you should read the article on the Irish Times website because it’s much more informative. The meters are installed outside the premises, they won’t need you to open your door.
They will install it outside at the nearest water switch which is located outside on the foot path so they wont need to go near your house, also if you dont have a meter then you will be charged a flat rate
And who will you vote for John. As they are all as bad as the other
@Tom Lewis:
“And who will you vote for John?”
I will vote for Direct Democracy Ireland (DDI)
Check them out.
I’d like one of those jobs… Seriously, I know it’d be hard work & challenging & open to abuse probably on an hourly basis, but it’s a decent job.
If Ireland reintroduced execution and were looking for executioners, would you apply? There’s more to morals then money and a secure job.
You’re right, there is more to it. However, I’ve three kids to take care of & my morals take a back seat to their well being & future.
To quote a favourite movie of mine: “If I show up at your door, chances are you did something to bring me there.” Now, where do I sign up for the executioner job?
I have looked and found no advertisement of these jobs… anybody?
Too right John. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not enterprise.
@John Hagin Meade – Please don’t try to equate one job to another. You’re stretching your point a bit too far there. Some people just want a job.
Jobs were advertised 3 months ago on Jobs.ie
Concentration camp guards? Just a job, ya know?
Another government disaster
Our water is about to be sold in a very underhand manner, but few appear to realise. Irish Water is being established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bord Gais – and we know Bord Gais is set to be privatised – yet there has been little in the way of public discussion as to the implications of privatisation for Irish Water.
While I would pay for water from a publicly owned utility (especially if they removed the fluoride from it) but there is no way I, in good conscience, could pay charges to a private company & enrich the same speculators who banjaxed the Irish economy in the first instance.
The decision to sell a resource absolutely vital to national well-being, as is the case for water, is not one for government executive to take alone – but requires the consensus of the people as a whole. Therefore, I personally will not be paying water charges to a private company without a referendum on the matter first……
Well said Mici. I believe however that a boycott of the water charges should apply even if Irish Water remains in public ownership. As with the Property (Home)tax, the revenue generated from water charges will be used to finance the bank bailout. The government has no moral authority to tax the Irish people while those taxes are being used to pay for the failure of speculative capitalism.
Hello dehydration
@trevor Power:
Isn’t it strange that all the wild animals & birds I see drink un-folouidated, un-chlorinated water mostly rain water and they are not lying dead all over the place. How did our ancestors manage at all?
My pockets have run dry.
I noticed most of the guys installing these meters are from the UK(no problem with them being from the UK) just you can’t really call them Irish jobs
Economy will be screwed up for another year….while consumers fret and worry about the bill..as happened with property tax. Govt should reveal likely cost now.
This is govt by “slow learners”.
FF man speaks
2000 jobs created & probably 5000 or more lost in retail sector due to the multiplier effect with this cash being taken out of the economy. Hard to ser positives in this story!
Good news, my arse!
We’re talking about the installation of yet another poxy method of bleeding the taxpayer dry!
What’s next, a sewer meter to measure and tax our faeces?
Please dont give them ideas, all businesses ( big and small ) pay for water in and sewage out. So the next step is to tax the home for sewage out.
Short term jobs (upto 3.5) years to facilitate a privatisation project by a fascist regime. Can we object to the installations. Will we be able to see the meter ? This looks a lot like some sort of extortion operation. Contractors will no doubt hide behind the law to carry out this act of bullying.
Call it by its right name
Bondholders Tax
Cos thats exactly what it is
Irish water. Good for flushing toilets and nothing else.
some work for scabs to do
FG DOGS ARE DESTROYING THIS COUNTRY.
And guess what you muppets wont do anything about it.
Itiswhatitis. So whats your plan
Wait for the cancers caused by these meters
No need to wait, you already have the fluoride in there causing the cancer.
@Jonathan. Show me your proof linking water fluoridation to cancer. We have be been adding fluoride to domestic water supplies in Ireland for well over 50 years, are you trying to say we had no cancer in this country before then?
John – 50 years has seen a steady increase in cancers in this country, something is causing cancer, its not just a random act. I will do everything to protect myself which includes organic healthy eating & staying well clear of fluoridated water & toothpaste. Cancer rates in Northern Ireland are lower than the republic, no water fluoridation in Northern Ireland, research it for yourself.
JohnF
We are one of the last countries in Europe to add this shit to our water. Just saying home dawg!
That’s Questionable Cause if ever I seen it. They also have yellow reg’s in the north, perhaps they act as cancer shields….
Is it not bad enough that those who have control of your supply, that is the control of a substance that is life giving & precious to your survival, is used as a vehicle to mass medicate. One Irish psychiatrist even suggested adding lithium to water supplies to help prevent suicides. All of these people, politicians & health professionals are overstepping the mark and taking a huge liberty by their use of your water as a delivery system for their mass medication programmes.. & now they want to charge you for it!
@Johnathan. Away with your conspiracy theories, countries who do not add fluoride to water usually add it to salt or toothpaste and it also naturally occurs in a lot of water supplies worldwide.
That guy who wants the lithium added to water is obviously a complete basket case and it would never happen in a million years!
Yeah, but other countries who have stopped fluoridation of water have it artificially added to other products such as salt and milk. Also there have been many studies undertaken that show no link between cancer and water fluoridation
Sure salt & milk are bad for you.
There have been many studies (at this point I switch off).
Couple of years back Asbestos was the wonder material, they could not get enough of it, asbestos was wonderful, used in all sorts of applications, bunsen burner matts in schools, car brake pads, fantastic in old buildings as fire proof insulation, sure it was fantastic stuff. Only one little problem, everyone is dying from CANCER!!!
Sodium fluoride or calcium fluoride, know which I would rather ingest there jhon! You are also contradicting yourself there, what difference is there in a “mad” psychiatrist calling for lithium to be added to municipal water supplies & a group of dentists lobbying the government to add sodium fluoride to water supplies (which I presume happened in this country 50 years ago or so). Does not matter if its sodium fluoride, lithium or multivitamins, the government do not have the right to mass medicate a population.
tin foil hats, 50 euros.
Stop taking the piss! 50 euros is a ripoff, I will report you to trading standards if you are not careful.
It’s a bit like charging €5 per litre of petrol and employing 250,000 to paint the roads black. Hooray 1/4 of a million off the dole. Only in Ireland.
Great for 1600 people to get jobs !!!!!
#SCABS
John – 50 years has seen a steady increase in cancers in this country, something is causing cancer, its not just a random act. I will do everything to protect myself which includes organic healthy eating & staying well clear of fluoridated water & toothpaste. Cancer rates in Northern Ireland are lower than the republic, no water fluoridation in Northern Ireland, research it for yourself.
50 years has also seen a significant increase in the ability to detect cancers and the ability to treat them. More people coming forward to get checked out leads to an increase in reported figures
Declan that doesn’t explain the difference between cancer rates in NI and ROI.
Who let the flat earth society in here?
i wish people would understand that FLUORIDE is POISON. you people are going to be paying for water, which is medicating/poisening you. for anyone who thinks its beneficial for you, your as informed as builders where in the 80′s when asbestos was in its prime. fluoride might be all well and good for keeping your teeth hard, but its a neuro-toxin, its associated with all sorts of bone diseases such as osteoporosis, and well, apparently makes people docile, i’ll let you be the judge of that. whats the point in having good teeth when the rest of your body is rotting away internally? has society really become that materially, aesthetically orientated. there are 100′s, even 1000′s, of scientists, doctors, dentists etc all coming in with the most recent research to suggest the long term side effects in absolutely no way shape or form account for immediate so called benefits.
anyone can do an ounce of unbiased research and become overwhelmingly convinced of the results.
just 10 years ago, there was NOBODY who didn’t buy into the propaganda/false advertising of fluoride, so for any disbelievers, you have to think why people would be out spoken against it today, after just going and doing abit of research. who has the agenda, goverment or common people?
i am fortunate to not have to drink public water, but when ever i am in a friends or relatives, i get this distinct metally underlying taste. because i can distinguish between fluorided and non fluorided water, and can tell theres just something not right with it, i try and avoid it like the plague, and im convinced if people had more access, to clean, naturally processed drinking water there would be more demand for it. people won’t strive for what they don’t know.
Has Irish water done the calcs on how many jobs will be lost from local authorities etc who are currently responsible for water mains repairs?
The whole water tax thing is a scam. It’s a prelude to privatisation. We already pay Local Property Tax. Surely that should include paying for water. Not forgetting all the other taxes. Quadruple tax we’re paying . Apart from that we’re drowning in the stuff( tax and water). No co-incidence the payment starts after the 2014 elections. Cynical opportunism.
Don’t you just miss the good-old-days when we had a government for the people of Ireland.
John having Meade, yes I do. It was sometimes a bit naff, but I was naive enough to believe at the time that they were working for our betterment. I have no such illusions now.
“Good news on the jobs front”????
Jaysus, that’s taking misrepresentation to a whole new level. That’s mega spin. LOL
It should read. “Bad news as 27000 homeowners forced to pay average 200 euro extra for water”
Get a grip.
“The first of the positions will come on stream within the next few weeks” hee hee, hilarious, and twenty five percent of jobs are to be reserved for a motley crew, to include students and “small businesses”. . I would have imagined that qualified personnel might be a good idea. This announcement is a load of nonsense since we all know that foreign contractors will conduct the work and a few locals will be hired to wield the shovels. Outrageous.
If I were to hire 2000 people to go out robbing and forcing people to pay for things that they didn’t have to would that be considered job creation too?
Because that’s how I view these jobs from the Govt.
Ireland: Water Water every where but will we get a drop. Only if we pay for it. Drill our own wells and save rain water, we get enough of that, but gov are working on a tax on rain
Saw the new Head of Irish Water on RTE. What a drip!
Not paying water tax, it’s as simple as that, NO !!
I’ve no problem paying for water but two things worry me, one. The fee will increase every year for this basic human right and two, it will be eventually deducted from our wages to make it “fair on all”
Jobs to be given to people on the dole , meaning polish, workers first then anyone that has experience fitting water meters, very few so they will have to look abroad to fill the jobs, watch this space
Just read that only a quarter of the jobs are going people who are unemployed, so who are the rest of the jobs going to
I’m sure the good taxpayers of Kildare feel really privileged at being selected for this singular honour !
Think I’ll invest in my own water system. God knows it rains enough in Donegal.
Yes, there is a simple way to calculate the amount of water you can harvest per year. I dont know the current installation cost for the treatment of the water, but its fully safe to shower/bath in, use for toilets ect. Dont have the link handy but Google “rain water harvesting” also the water treatment unit in Earthships looks great.
How can the journal call this good news on the jobs front. Is the journal affiliated to FG?
I think they distill for the rots child !
Region
Regional Main Contractor
NORTH WEST
GMC/SIERRA JV
WEST
J. MURPHY & SONS LTD
SOUTH WEST
J. MURPHY & SONS LTD
NORTH EAST
COFFEY/ NORTHUMBRIAN WATER PROJECTS JV
DUBLIN CITY
GMC/SIERRA JV
COUNTY DUBLIN
FARRANS CONSTRUCTION T/A NORTHSTONE (NI) LTD
MIDLANDS
GMC/SIERRA JV
SOUTH EAST
GMC/SIERRA JV
Watch how many northern reg van’s turn up to install the water meters. Job creation my ar$e
The Journal.ie to it’s shame published this story as fact and failed to question the spin coming from Irish Water. How many of these jobs will actually be redeployment of existing workers within a company? The jobs announcement is to divert attention from the stealing of our water, a typical PR tactic to make bad news look like good news. The winners thus far are Tierney on a salary of €200,000 plus and Sierra, a company owned by Denis O’Brien – Enda’s best buddy
At least water can’t be diluted! Or can it ? As I see it, water charges will have a huge impact on recycling quality. People won’t waste water washing stuff for recycling, so a lot of dirty stuff will be recycled or put back in rubbish bins. Also people, particularly elderly people who are often very reluctant to use something they must pay for , or can’t afford it, will be denying themselves, leading to health and hygiene problems. Indeed because of health issues many people have to use extra water, and that should be recognised .
water like energy can be neither created or destroyed !
If it leaks the it will just return to the sea ;
The Water Cycle is a very simple process really;
The problem with water is not “waste” it is the fact that our reservoirs are too small !
Socialize the cost… privatize the profits
The issue I have with paying for water is that those who are in debt to ESB Bord Gais etc how on earth will they pay for there water. I agree with the fact that it will teach those who waste water like leaving a tap running whilst brushing your teeth or showers twice a day a electric shower uses 150 ltrs of water every 5 minutes.
Beware of the standing charge to be paid for the water meter in addition to paying for the charge for the water. I had a small shop, which closed after 22 years last December. (Due to this recession) A water meter was fitted about 4 years ago in the shop. We were charged 66 euros quarterly by the county council as a standing charge for the meter. Our water usage was small, and the water cost about 10 euros per quarter. This was robbery. The standing charge remained regardless of the size of the business. So if you were thrifty with your water you still got stung. Considering we all have to pay a monthly standing charge for Gas and Electricity, and since they charge businesses a fixed standing charge for their water meters. It is likely they will do it on these water meters. This means that the little guy ends up paying more pro rata for basic services. I am furious…..yet another unfair double tax….
Another Tribunal coming…
They sugar coat it with ‘creating new jobs’ really it’s just another way to screw people out of money !
May as well be advertised as “Black and Tan” jobs coz their job is to come into our homes and take what little we have left.
What if there is a leak between the outdoor meter and the house? The owner or the landlord pays for it? Will there also be an indoor meter to compare with the outdoor one and to detect any leaks? Will people have access to the meters to see if they are charged correctly?
But how many jobs will be lost in the Water Depts of the City & County Councils as they close to allow Irish Water to be set up?
Jobs for the boys
It’s amazing how the water tax can create 1600 jobs when we’re told repeatedly that higher taxes on wealthy people are “a tax on jobs”.
Evidently only inequitable, regressive, indirect taxation can create jobs; equitable, progressive, direct taxation cannot.
Jesus wept.
Who are these mythical riches and where do they live?
€640 for a 2 day installation course?
http://www.irishwatermeters.ie
You gotta love the journal readership. hit me up again you red thumb monkeys.
Breaking News! Kildare to be the first county to receive the water meters. One of the contracts has gone to billionaire Dennis O’Brien, and an English company ‘Coffey North Cumbrian Ltd’.
I’m paying for farm water since ’80s WX I also pay 150 a year for the meter even if I don’t use water. Is there an option to own the meter and only pay for water used under this scheme?
For me it’s simple if creates 1600 jobs ! I’ll pay your shitty water tax
You’ll pay for my job too I assume.
so we can look forward to been charged every month for having the meter installed,then there will be the usage charge,then within 6 months the first of the yearly increase in prices and vat…..because why? the energy regulator is in charge of the price increase for electricity and gas and as these raw matearials will be used to pump the water etc we will see the cost of supplying the water going up .so welcome to another ever increasing bill that the government will tell us price increase are regrettable but we have no control of the markets
Didn’t the government up the VAT by 2% to cover the water?? …… On top of this your rates will go up an up each year. We pay for water, we pay to own land, we pay for poor tv service……we get nothing back all this money goes to the bond holders who get a few million each month. Irish people are blind.
Good news another quango just after being set up, this is not good news by the way the money that will be taken out of our economy over the water charges. Will mean the loss of a lot more than 180 jobs
If you look at the list of contractors, two are from outside the state and I presume they will bring in their own trained workers, so forget about the “creation” of 1,600 jobs
More water…
“Water meter plan to create 2,000 jobs
UP TO 2,000 construction-based jobs will be created over three years to install more than a million water meters, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan has claimed.”
The Journal.ie
“Good news on the jobs front: Irish Water to create 1,600 jobs”
A “leak” of 400 jobs already
How many will be irish ,born and reared.
There’s a lot on here about selling state assets as a bad idea but the argument can be made that our water system is being mis managed with 33% leakage, bad quality water, foul and surface water flooding and low pressure. With strong regulation that all changes. ( not our strong suit granted). If you look at the UK where funding for large infrastructure projects is privately funded so no government money. The regional monopolies are told what price they can charge based on performance on the above issues. Companies are fined if in breach and pay customer money if for example water is no restored within four hours of a burst. customers who contact them are surveyed by the regulator and then ranked based on the customers contacted. This service will not be provided using the Irish water business model. The end user will not pay for the water they will pay for the inefficiency.
It’s mainly pension funds buy water companies in the uk as they represent a safe bet with a constant return on investment. It represents a stable long term investment as safe as you can get but they stump up the cash for funding rather than the government/local authority.
Since the pension reserve fund is paying for the initial cost of installation ect. Should the pension reserve fund not just own Irish water. At least then any profits would directly help the Irish people, rather than having Veola ( luis ) or another private pension company buy Irish water?
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