Lynn Boylan MEP addresses European Water Movement Conference
Dublin Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan has addressed the European Water
Movement Conference today in Brussels.
Ms Boylan spoke about the Right2Water demonstration that took place in Dublin
last weekend. She also used the opportunity to speak about the Right2Water
report she is currently penning for the EU Parliament.
"In my home country, Ireland, we saw 80,000 citizens marching through the
streets of Dublin last Saturday morning on the issue of water, and not for the
first time.
I've often heard the rumour that the Irish simply don’t want to pay for water
and sanitation services, that they simply don’t understand that these things
cost money. It’s far from the truth.
We pay for water firstly through general taxation and then part of our motor
tax is also meant to go to water services.
Given the importance of this issue for my party Sinn Féin and the Irish
citizens, I was especially keen to be the author on the report in the European
Parliament on the follow up to the European Citizen’s Initiative on the
Right2Water.
In my report, I draw attention to the fact that water provision is a natural
monopoly which does not lend itself to market competition and where there has
been privatisation of water ownership we have seen massive profits accumulated
but little reinvestment into water infrastructure.
It is the failure of successive Irish governments to ring-fence money for water
infrastructure – a mistake they now want the public to pay for.
Right to water is a right that should be protected as a human right and therefore should have constitutional protection. We have seen moves towards this stance across Europe.
Brian Hayes has said it would be bizarre to have a referendum on water ownership yet this conference has heard of examples of such referendums across Europe.
So not only is he removed from the reality of the struggling families back in Ireland but clearly he hasn't got his finger on the pulse in Europe either!
His government
colleagues, after spending €85 million on private consultancy fees, a whopping
€650,000 euros on a self-promoting ad and now that they government have decided
to go flat rate, a wasted €539 million on pointless meters – it is no wonder
the Irish people have had enough.
This is coupled with reports that the Minister of Environment, Alan Kelly will
be bringing in vicious compliance measures which will see unpaid water charges
being drawn from people’s wages and pensions.
Irish people have suffered enough under Labour austerity policies and do not
deserve to be threatened in this way.
ENDS//