Sir, – Why should Fianna Fáil stop at water charges? Why not consign electricity, fuel, refuse and all those other irritating charges and taxes to that ubiquitous financial pot called “general taxation”? – Yours, etc,
JOHN McHUGH,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Fianna Fáil’s blatantly populist proposal to abolish water charges tells us only one thing: it has not changed one iota from the party that brought the country to ruin a few short years ago. – Yours, etc,
COLIN MURPHY,
Dublin 6W.
Sir, – Your editorial (September 13th) in support of domestic water charges questions the motivation of the various political players in what has become a long-running national farce.
Pointing out all the current shortfalls, such as inadequate treatment plants, ongoing “boil water” notices in various parts of the country and that the cost of suspending domestic water charges will run to somewhere in the region of €300 million, you then finish by asking “with less than €1 billion available in the upcoming budget how can this loss and urgent investment requirements be met?”
Well, if this Government accepted payment of €13 billion worth of legitimate taxation due from a certain international technological corporation then, it could solve these problems with ease and pull the curtain on the aforementioned farce! – Yours, etc,
JD MANGAN,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Sir, – It seems more parties are joining the bandwagon to scrap water charges, and while I too would love a world where everything is free, unfortunately when it comes to water, we’re dealing with a limited resource.
The suggestion that general taxation should compensate for the abolition of water charges is not a bad one, as long as this only relates to the overall infrastructure.
However, to conserve water, consumption has to be measured so that wasteful users are at least penalised. The initial basic allowance of water was always going to be free either way.
It is a redline issue for me as I am definitely not willing to keep paying tax into a bottomless pit so that someone else does not have to be bothered to turn off the tap. – Yours, etc,
VINCENT HIBBERT,
Inchicore, Dublin 8.