Water metering: Clarity is required on ‘stealth tax’

There is a vacuum in the public perception of the issues surrounding water charges. People are confused because they have not been getting straight talk from the Government, and the various opposition parties have been exploiting the resulting confusion. That was inevitably going to happen in the run-up to elections.

Members of the Green Party were proud of their role in compelling Fianna Fáil to agree to the introduction of water meters as part of a revised programme for government in 2009. The Greens contended that such water charges in other countries led to marked declines in consumption. One study showed that water usage in the UK dropped by 16%.

Some 40% of the water in this country is lost in leakage. Much of that may well occur before the water actually reaches the meters for any houses, so this may have little impact on tackling the leakage problem. After the meters have been installed, the leaks will still have to be tackled, and the efficacy of the whole thing will come under serious questioning.

Commercial sensitivity is being cited for not levelling with people on the costs associated with installing water meters. Will the elderly widow living alone in a house have to pay as much for the installation of a water meter as the 10 people living next door? Only a quarter of households will have meters installed before the charges are introduced later this year. This means that the majority of people will be assessed whether they actually used any water or not.

The current Government came to power promising transparency, but people are deeply concerned about the lack of transparency in relation to the whole water meter issue. This has been manifest during the week in the spreading protests to prevent the installation of water meters in the Lehenaghmore area of Cork and the Raheny area of Dublin.

There have been allegations that nobody knows the possible health risks. Such risks may well be grossly exaggerated, but the Government should have prepared the groundwork so that unwarranted scare tactics would easily be exposed. There should be no grounds for such confusion, especially around election time.

There is confusion about the likely cost of the water to homes, with estimates varying from €240 to €500 annually. The Taoiseach has promised the cost would be announced before the coming elections.

The Government insists that direct water charges are being introduced, rather than increasing income tax, taxing businesses, or cutting social welfare payments. These water charges amount to another stealth tax.

Poor people will be paying as much as the wealthy, and it will have the same impact as cutting their social welfare payments. The poorest sections of society will thus be hit hardest, and pretending otherwise is dishonest.

Fine Gael may be doing relatively well in the public opinion polls, but the Labour party would be wise to examine its own standing, especially in light of what happened to the Greens.

Political parties inevitably exploit confusion at election time. The Government therefore has a responsibility to avoid such confusion, because it has the potential of undermining the whole democratic process.