On the day when the People Before Profit Alliance launched its Election Campaign Launch, United Left Alliance candidates Joe Higgins MEP & Cllr Joan Collins have said pressure on the Government from the EU to privatise domestic water supply must stop.
The Dublin-based candidates yesterday protested outside the European Commission’s Dublin offices, claiming the commission is putting pressure on the Government to privatise water services.
They handed in a letter for commission president José Manuel Barroso in which they noted “with dismay” the requirement in the EU-IMF Memorandum of Understanding that “the public provision of water services is to end and this function is to be transferred to a utility company”.
The memorandum, signed by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan last December, stated: “We are also planning to move towards full cost-recovery in the provision of water services.”
It also said that in advance of introducing charges, the Government will have undertaken an independent assessment of transfer of responsibility for water services provision to a water utility and “prepare proposals for implementation as appropriate with a view to start charging in 2012-2013”.
Joe Higgins, a candidate in Dublin West, said Veolia, which operates the Luas, was already charging for water in Sligo and had “made inquiries about Ireland’s reservoirs”. According to its website, Veolia also has water operating contracts in Wicklow, Limerick, Westmeath, Waterford, Dublin, Mayo and Donegal.
Joan Collins, who is standing for People Before Profit in Dublin South Central, said if a company such as Veolia was to take control of water supplies it would likely mean increased costs and water disconnections where customers could not pay.