Water charges

One of my biggest political annoyances has to be the anti water charge protests. I can't argue that people don't have a right to clean water but it's ludicrous to think it won't cost. With treatment and distribution there is an expense, an expense our government need to account for from a consistent source.

That rules out things like the Apple tax payment or other corporate taxes the EU deemed unjust, no company tax is an assured income as low tax rates are given to encourage employment remove that and jobs will be lost. By encouraging employment not only is there income to tax but it reduces the number on social welfare freeing up funds that are needed elsewhere from education to healthcare or even just those with serious reasons not to be able to work.

Back to the cost, the fairest way to do it like any commodity is by usage, when you buy petrol it's based on what you take not an average of what everyone uses, otherwise someone with a small efficient vehicle will pay for more than that use. From an environmental perspective by charging people for what they use will mean people will be likely to be conservative a precious resource, fixing leaks and not wasting it hosing down there lawns.

As we've seen meters are not an option which leads to flat rates, which has already failed but not for the reasons it should, to go back to the petrol analogy it forces people who are being economical to pay for more than they use which goes against any sense of fairness. It also encourages a blasé approach from those wasting water, "I paid for it I'll do what I want with it".

This leads me to where we seem to be going with it, a false idea of not paying for it. The attitude of the protesters seems to be "the gummerment will pay" without an understanding of where the "gummerment" get their money taxes, the majority of which is income tax. So we still pay for it but don't know it, either in an increase to basic PAYE, sneaking it under PRSI or just not reducing USC. Now I know 0.5% of VAT is meant to be for water services but that's not working otherwise we'd have a working water system free of leaks etc. Other than that the only option is to benefit from the rewards of other people's labour without reward or recompense, in other words slavery.

That leaves this writer to continue to insist metered water charges are the only way forward. To placate people who will use the what about the elderly or "won't somebody please think of the children" this can be addressed through similar to the heating allowance, whilst I disagree with government subsidies as they cause unneeded inflation (more on that later) it does aid those who need it whilst ensuring those who don't still pay.