Meter move ‘leads to privatisation’

Campaigners opposed to water charges have said any attempt to introduce water and property taxes on households would be met with mass opposition and a widespread boycott.

The Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT) yesterday outlined their opposition to the proposed measures, claiming it would open the way for privatisation of services and make elderly and vulnerable people so wary of running up bills that they would not run a bath.

The group, spearheaded by longstanding campaigners against previous attempts to introduce water and other charges, said efforts should instead be made to close off leaks that they said were responsible for the massive amount of wastage in the water system, resulting in huge cost to the taxpayer.

Socialist Party TD, People Before Profit councillor Pat Dunne of Dublin City Council and Gregor Kerr, formerly secretary of the Federation of Dublin Anti-Water Charges campaign in the Nineties, said the possible introduction of the charges was simply a way of trying to squeeze more money out of households.

“People are not going to pay these taxes,” Mr Kerr said. “Attempts to portray the water tax as being about water conservation are total nonsense. The creation of the Irish Water company is about paving the way toward privatisation of our water services.”

Another member of the campaign, Independent TD Luke Ming Flanagan, said there was inequity in the current system where some people were members of group water schemes already paid for water while other people did not.

Deputy Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party said claims that the introduction of water meters led to less water being used was “a myth”, while People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the Government was lying, if it claimed the introduction of charges would not lead to privatisation.

The campaigners said the campaign had a foothold in every corner of the country and mass non-registration for the household tax could not be denied, meaning a similar level of opposition could be expected for water charges. They added water was often wasted through a lack of rain water harvesting, faults in housing plans and other ways that did not relate to domestic usage.