“A lot won, a lot more to do”, claims #Right2Water movement

~ jlpagano

A statement from the Irish #Right2Water campaign that is definitely worth reading…

After a day of FF being FF again and working with FG to re-open the door to water charges down the line the Oireachtas Committee have finalised and voted on a report which will now go before the Dail.

You the water movement have achieved the following:

– charges as they were are gone

– bills as they were are gone

– domestic charges will be paid through general taxation (with the exception set out below)

– a consensus on a referendum will be stated (but no date will be announced don’t believe FG or FF will do this)

– further relief has been given to those in private schemes

– money will be paid back to those who paid their bills

Thanks to FF doing an about face however there will now be

– meters in new builds and refurbishments

– a charge (as opposed to penalties in last weeks report) to anyone consistently using 170% of the average use per adult (currently 133 litres a day)

This means we continue to live in a country where privileged elites who have always abused their position continue to spin and lie and twist in order to keep alive their ideological efforts to privatise and commodify our human Right2Water.

In this case they kept going until they finally got a legal opinion (their 9th) that they could buy to say what they wanted it to say.

Still the campaign has ensured they have been set back years from where they were three, two and even one year ago by the water campaign. Without you, the water campaigners, they’d probably be about to sell it now while your bills for a full household would be in four figures.

You won, for now, on general taxation, but like the bin charges, they are going to spend years trying to roll back on this.

We at R2W are not happy with this outcome as there is more to do. But remember what has been achieved. Remember where we were, and how hopeless it was, three short years ago. And remember also that this is very far away from what FG, FF, Irish Water and most of all the Labour Party who did most to try to commodify our human Right2Water wanted to do to us.

We have only just begun.

Be proud and keep going.

We will.

#IANWAE