Water charges: More about taxes than saving water

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald with TDs and councillors at the Dáil telling the Government to turn off the tax

WATER CHARGES proposed by the Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government are more about forcing more taxes on the public rather than conserving water when there is huge waste at source, Sinn Féin has said.
Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South Central Aengus Ó Snodaigh says the party will mount a vigorous campaign of opposition. His comments came in Ballyfermot at the launch of Sinn Féin’s campaign, which was attended by Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy.
“Everybody acknowledges that clean water is a precious resource which costs money to produce. Indeed, everybody justifiably understood that it was already paid for through their taxes.”
But water meters for every household when it’s reckoned only 16% are said to be responsible for wastage and when up to 40% of treated water is being lost through leaking pipes and poor infrastructure before it even reaches homes is wrong, the Sinn Féin TD said.
“Educating people about the necessity of water conservation and helping families in introducing water-saving technology would be a much more economically sensible approach.
“Water charges are more about creating new tax revenue streams rather than conserving water. It is a regressive form of taxation that will further punish already hard-pressed households.
“We will be mounting a vigorous campaign of opposition.”
In Clondalkin, west Dublin, 1,000 people have already signed up to the Sinn Féin campaign, Sinn Féin Dublin Mid-West representative Eoin Ó Broin has told reporters.
Launched four weeks ago, the campaign is collecting signatures door-to-door across Dublin Mid-West.
The campaign will continue throughout the summer across Clondalkin, Palmerstown and Lucan. Sinn Féin will also hold a series of public meetings, the first of which will be held on Tuesday, August 3rd,  in the Neilstown Resource Centre at 7pm.