Dear Sir... Readers' Views (26/11/16)
PSO levy a hidden tax that funds private enterprise
The PSO levy on electricity bills to subsidise alternative energy development has increased without notice from 0.99, in October, 2013 to 3.33, in October, 2016. This is a 336% increase in three years. It applies to the maximum import capacity contract in KVA, known as the MIC.
While Irish Water gets national attention, the public is unaware of other, more serious charges that governments introduce.
GAA club Nemo Rangersâs electricity bill went from âŹ323.40, in October, 2013, to âŹ549.45, in October, 2016, a 70% increase.
The most disturbing feature of the PSO levy is its application. It is applied to private business involved in alternative energy. Nemo Rangers is a voluntary sports organisation catering for hundreds of youngsters, and this levy, imposed by government, amounts to a whopping âŹ549.45 per month. It calls into question the government policy of funding private industry via hidden taxes in the form of levies on voluntary clubs. It also begs the question of how this levy is ringfenced and how it is distributed. The Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gases and emissions was never intended to take money from voluntary clubs to distribute it to the private sector.
The PSO levy, determined by the Commission for Energy Regulation, is charged to all electricity customers and relates to the recovery of any additional costs associated with meeting the obligation to purchase electricity generated from sustainable, renewable, and indigenous sources. It is calculated by applying a levy to the maximum import capacity. This means of calculation does not reflect consumption and is not a fair and justifiable calculation, as all consumers control their electricity consumption to ensure it does not reach, or exceed, the MIC. Otherwise, they will incur a further penalty.
This unfair levy, imposed on a voluntary club, is under the control of the minister for finance and is again an example of underhand and hidden taxation. It reflects badly on government, which claims to be open and transparent. How is this levy controlled, what justification is there for a 336% increase in three years, and why should a voluntary organisation, like a GAA club, be obliged to fund and compensate the renewable private sector?
Ross is right about judge appointments
Hats off to Minister for Transport, Tourism, and Sport, Shane Ross, for his efforts to remove the right of government to appoint judges. If âthe nod and the winkâ is to be taken out of Irish politics, then judicial appointments must be removed from political influence.
The judiciary must be absolutely independent and not seen as tainted by the selection process.
The ombudsman must retain the power of investigation of barristers and solicitors, however strongly the Bar Council might lobby government to have this function brought in-house.
Already, the Bar Council have succeeded in having legislation changed to block competition that might have affected barristersâ fee structures, slamming the door on any hopes that the public might eventually be able to afford representation in the higher courts without risking house and home.
It is also high time that Fine Gael realise that âcute hoorismâ is contagious. Itâs no wonder that vital organs of the State are in disarray. A Taoiseach who makes more representations to the Revenue Commissioners than any other TD, and on behalf of other people, illustrates the mindset of this man and his party. High office demands the observance of certain protocols. There are lines which should not be crossed.
It is time that the building blocks of real democracy in Ireland were restored.
A true pet lover would not eat meat
âSheâs a friend to animalsâ is a phrase Iâve heard several times recently. Itâs typically said about someone who feels a strong affinity for animals, and who does kind and valuable work on their behalf. You probably know people like that. Indeed, you might belong in that category.
I, too, know several people, male and female, who consider themselves friends to animals. I also know that they eat them. Now, hereâs the thing: how can eating animals be compatible with being their friend? This puzzles me.
As we approach Christmas and the mass killing of so many farm animals, you might ask yourself this simple question.
Can I truly be a friend to animals, if I eat them?
An inflammatory television advert
I am appalled by an ad I saw on RTĂ for the show, Bridget and Eamon. The female character was depicted smoking in bed. How incredibly irresponsible. No-one on TV should ever be shown smoking in bed. Just ask any fireman. How many deaths will that depiction indirectly cause?
Bethany victims still without justice
The Bethany House home for Protestant mothers and their babies has been excluded by successive Irish governments from justice and redress. These children were abused: 227 of them died and no-one remembers. Inspectors led by the Department of Health turned a blind eye to their deplorable treatment and many children died, while others continued to be abused. The Government of the day ignored the 1908 Childrenâs Act.
The failure to intervene has had irreparable lifelong consequences for the living survivors. In April, 1922, the Ministry of Local Government of the newly independent Free State took over central administration.
In 1924, the Department of Local Government and Public Health was established.
This new Department took over the supervision of local government, which had been performed since the 1870s by the Local Government Board, under the former British administration.
To say the Bethany House home was privately run and not the Stateâs responsibility is a cop-out: it was inspected by the Department of Local Government. Today, it is called the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. Simon Coveney is the minister responsible for that department in 2016.
The Department of Health was created in 1947, with James Ryan as the first minister. Prior to this, the Department for Local Government and Public Health looked after health issues. Over the years, the departmentâs name has changed several times, but its function has remained the same. The department has been known as the Department of Health (1947â1997), Department of Health and Children (1997â2011), and the Department of Health (2011âpresent). The 1916 Proclamation states: âThe Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irish man and Irish woman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.â
While we claim, as a nation, that all are equal, these elderly survivors, sadly, have to take on the Irish State and are still fighting for their right to be compensated. It is regrettable that many of the victims who lived to adulthood and old age have since died. One must look at the Constitution to clarify the rights of our citizens.
CONSTITUTION OF IRELAND â BUNREACHT NA hEIREANN: FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, Article 40 - All citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law. The State guarantees, in its laws, to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws, to defend and vindicate, the personal rights of the citizen. The State shall, in particular, by its laws, protect as best it may from unjust attack and, in the case of injustice done, vindicate the life, person, good name, and property rights of every citizen.â
The present government has done nothing to support The Bethany survivors. A case is now being brought to The European Court of Justice. It is sad that any government should be shamed/coerced into doing the right thing. I am certain that the ruling will be in favour of those survivors. Time is still there to do the right thing.
Addiction is not a failure of willpower
In response to Ms Florence Cravenâs correspondence on the topic of addiction, in the Irish Examiner (Letters, 24/11/16), I am pleased that Ms Craven obviously has no idea of what addiction is like. Her comments about personal responsibility and the nanny state are gravely unhelpful to those who suffer from substance abuse or psychological issues. If recovery from addiction was simply a matter of willpower, there wouldnât be an issue. Ms Craven, and others who share her misconception of addiction, should understand that it is a disease (and is accepted as such by the American Medical Association), before they utter such unhelpful comments.
Mean what you say, say what you mean
So Kevin Duffy lost his cool and said things he now wishes he had not said. Predictably the interview on RTĂ went as follows.
âYou said------â
âWhat I meant was---â
âBut you also said ---â
âWhat I meant was ---â
This reminds me of one of the most celebrated press conferences in the annals of PR. Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, a right rogue if ever there was one, said some rather unfortunate things which were duly reported in the papers.
Shortly afterwords Daleyâs press secretary Earl Bush attacked a gathering of journalists for their reports and when they, quite reasonably, pointed out âBut thatâs what he saidâ Bush memorably screamed â YOU SHOULD HAVE REPORTED WHAT HE MEANT, NOT WHAT HE SAID.â
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