Council pre-empting water charges

Councillor Ted Tynan has accused Cork City Council of pre-empting the introduction of water charges by installing meter-ready stopcocks in parts of the city over the past five years.

Cllr Tynan said that meter-ready stopcocks had already caused water outages in some areas during the recent freeze-up. He had seen such appliances in the Mayfield area which had a screw-on plastic cap with could be removed in a matter of minutes to install a meter. Many of these covers had burst during the recent freeze. (see photo).

“While Minister John Gormley has this morning announced that installation of water meters would begin next year, the fact is that Cork City Council have been preparing for this for several years and have jumped the gun on this issue”, said the Workers Party councillor.

Councillor Tynan said that the debate on water charges was totally skewed and householders were being blamed for water losses through leakages which were mainly due to years of underinvestment in the public water system. “For the past few weeks we have been bombarded with propaganda about people leaving taps running and wasting water but not one city or county manager can tell you how much of the water is being lost in this way and how much is being lost in the public mains through leakages”, he said.

“There is going to be a major battle in opposition to water charges which are a precursor to privatisation. These charges are another tax on working people and a totally unjust form of double taxation. It should be remembered that public opinion forced the scrapping of water charges over ten years ago. We are confident that this can be done again through a rigorous and determined campaign of opposition”.

“The Workers Party is already preparing its own campaign against water charges and we will work closely with others who oppose these unjust charges in building alliances around the country to oppose them. Water charges make no sense whatsoever, they are against the interests of public health, and water privatisation has been a disaster for ordinary people wherever it has taken place. The battle starts now and Minister Gormley will find he is facing a formidable opposition to charging for water.”, said Cllr. Tynan.

Tynan condemns closure of Ardbhaile council office

Councillor Ted Tynan has said that the closure of local Cork City Council offices around the city, including the one at Ardbhaile in Mayfield,  is a backwards step and will have a negative knock-on effect for both the public and the council alike.

The Workers’ Party councillor said that the move, forced on the City Council due to cutbacks in government funding, would cause difficulties for people who find it difficult to get into City Hall to report local problems or simply pay their rent. 

Cllr.  Tynan said that the local offices, such as the one at Árd Bhaile, had proved their worth and had been essential in building better links between the local communities and City Council staff and officials.  

“The value of these local offices is that people can get to know the officials who in turn can build up a working relationship with people in the local community.  They can also deal with people on a one-to-one basis and for instance, if a person runs into difficulty with rent they can identify the problem sooner and can make an arrangement with that person.  It also provides a link for people to report local problems be it broken street lights, pavements or housing maintenance issues”

Councillor Tynan praised the work of staff at the local offices and said it was a disgrace that all their good work was being undone by a petty cutback but he laid blame squarely at the door of the Fianna Fáil / Green Party government.  “This is just another one of the many effects of their slash and burn policy of cutbacks.  It is also short-sighted as the closure of these local offices will cost the council and the state money in the long run”.