Colette Browne has an excellent piece in yesterday’s Irish Independent in which she outlines and analyses the grotesque amounts of money being pumped (no apology for pun) into Irish Water.
I suspect that part of the reason so much money is being poured into the bottomless pit that is Irish Water is to make its loans and liabilities so big that the Government can claim that its too big to fail and therefore must be saved at any cost (to the taxpayer) – just like the banks.
Here’s a quote referring to Alan Kelly’s ecstatic response to the fact that just 46pc of people are actually paying water charges.
Monty Python’s Black Knight – who insisted his injuries were only a flesh wound even as his opponent hacked off his arms and his legs – Mr Kelly was adamant it was the Government’s plan all along that most people would ignore their water bills.
The media seems to be conveniently ignoring the fact that, as the Irish Water debacle trickles on, there is a trade agreement (TTIP) being negotiated in secrecy between the USA and Europe. One of the known unknowns about these kinds of trade agreements is a clause that forbids any utilities or entities that have been privatised from ever reverting to public ownership.
If this agreement is put in place (and signs are that the negotiations are accelerating), it could well turn out that the EU will sign away the ability of any future Irish government to have Irish Water abolished. Which, I firmly believe, Fine Gael and Labour are hoping for.
Very interesting information James, thank you