Special introductory offer: Buy 1 get 1 free.
Wait until next year.

Like I was saying in a previous comment, how is it fair?
A millionaire or wealthy person is paying the same for a mansion than the poorer person in society is paying!

Also a e100 a year is just the start. What will it be in 5 years I wonder?

Our government are very lucky to have such a compliant accepting population !!

I don’t think I should pay water tax. I have a private well.

And what about people who supply their own water????

The money is needed because we have to give a gift of 500 million to the U.K. to build a road in Northern Ireland and we need to pay U.K. govt 440 million pounds in interest for the bail out loan they gave us last year.
So, if we get 100 euro from every home, we only need to collect from approx 10 million homes to satisfy the 2 above commitments.
Then we can focus on water….

Can’t wait until I can turn on the tap and get Ballygowan sparkling.

Someone in a small house on minimum wage will have to pay the same as someone it a 6 bed mansion. How can that be the right way to do it.

I’ve already paid my property tax when I bought my house. In addition I pay a substantial proportion of my wages back to the government in taxes. It’s getting to the point where it would make more sense for me not to work.

I think the €75k stamp duty I paid 5 years ago should cover this €100 charge for quite a while. Fucked if they’re getting another cent!

Our water comes off the Reek from a privately-funded local Group Water Scheme. Neither municipal, county, nor national government has anything to do with how we get our water. I can’t see how they can charge us for it.

The answers to the poll are deceptive too. Of course it’s less than expected but it doesn’t mean that makes it ok. People earning minimum wage and people earning millions a year should not be expected to pay the same amount of tax. It makes NO economic sense, none at all. If anything, people might use MORE water, sure if you’re paying the same as your wealthy neighbour, you might as well get your money’s worth.

Property Taxes is a violation of private property. How can you legitimately say you own your own home when you’re paying to actually live there? Technically, you won’t own your own home; might as well pay rent to a landlord. Does anyone see the nonsense in all of this?

€100….mmmmm sounds reasonable doesn’t it. Less than what some of us thought (isn’t that kind of them), and ah sure, aren’t we all in the same boat, let’s keep bailing out the boat together so we don’t all sink. OH BUT HANG ON A MINUTE…let’s think back to the motor tax. Wasn’t that just brought in ‘for a while’ just till we ‘come right’ … And it stayed all throughout the tiger and it’s STILL in place. Government could never afford to abolish it as they first intended to. 100€ standard charge this year just to get us all used to it…then watch it jump, and jump, and jump, just like the motor tax has. Ireland used to have water charges until the government decided that water was a basic human right like air that we breath. We could, arguably, survive without a house, or electricity or heating, BUT without a human being would die within days. What happened to our basic human right?

By 2013 it will be 250-300 euro

I cannot understand why, when you Own Your Property Outright, any Government has the Right to make you pay ANY Tax on it. It seems to me this concept needs to be Challenged, through the courts.

I live in an apartment with 1 other person. I live in a smaller home and I would use a significantly lower amount of water than a family of 4 in a standard house, why should I be charged the same? I can’t afford it just as much as anybody else but if the government had a meter I would find it reasonable to pay for what I use. They can whistle for their €100

The Government need to get their priorities right. There’s no point whatsoever in nailing the people of Ireland again and again while at the same time, they are squandering millions on a motorway between Oilgate and Rosslare in Co. Wexford.

Is there any word on how it will work for people in rented accomadation? I would accept having to pay for using water but if a tax is put on property shouldnt the landlord have to pay it? On my lease there is no clause saying I have to pay any new government charges on homes.

Doesnt bother me, I won’t be paying either. It’ll cost the state more to run me through the courts and possibly imprison me than would be worth the €100. I don’t have it and if I did I certainly would not give it to Anglo!

I would agree that it’s not a stealth tax, as they are clearly specifying what the money is supposed to be going towards. I wouldn’t baulk at paying this as we really do seriously need to pay for the infrastructure to be upgraded and modernised, particularly in places like Dublin.

However, the sad reality is that the money will not go towards improvements or pipe laying or dam building or reservoir construction – it’ll just be sucked into the bottomless pit of government coffers never to be accounted for again. Meaning, water will continue to leak into the ground under Dublin at a rate of something like 150 million litres per day. People in Co. Galway will probably continue to be repeatedly told not to consume their only drinking / cooking water supply due to bugs. We’ll also continue to see situations in places like Kilkenny where the tap water from mains supply is so poor that I would advise no one ever drink it unless they fancy a spell in hospital or bed suffering from stomach ailments caused by Helicobacter Pylori as happened both my father and my aunt a couple of years back. I once turned on the tap at my parents home to be met with a stench as greenish-brownish water with unidentified sediment and floaters poured from the tap. I’m not the only one saying it either… for years now some of that town’s most prominent doctors have repeatedly spoken about this in the papers and on the radio. Comically, this is usually followed up a short time later by someone from the local authorities saying it’s rubbish and that the drinking water is perfectly safe. Yeah, right, I know who I believe. Unfortunately the will to bring Ireland’s water quality in line with the EU norms is simply non-existent. So on the simple basis that absolutely sweet fanny adams is being done about it in any seriousness, I don’t think we should have to pay a cent.

Oh.. and just as an aside – the reason they’ve lumped the property tax and the water charge together is most likely to make it easier to swallow at first… and they can separate and hike them later on. But also – I reckon it’s to get around the whole “But I have a private well!” claim. Fine, you have a private well – but you still have to pay the property tax. €100 please.

Joke.

They can call it what they like, house hold charge, stealth tax whatever, the common denominator is that its money out of the hands of the many going into the hands of the few.It must be rejected by the citizens

So I am paying towards the IMF or the Council services????

Council Services would be:
Water – we don’t have access, had to provide my own
Sewage – we don’t have access, had to provide my own
Lighting – Ummm, we are 4 miles from the nearest
Footpaths – we are 4 miles from the nearest
Roads – I have filled the potholes twice every year outside my house as they won’t do them.
Roads – Salting or gritting during very bad weather? No chance
Broadband – Exchange not enabled.
Fire Service – Nope, you have to pay for that if you call them
4500 euro development fees to Council when I built my house – we paid that. 6 years on, ZERO development

So my 100 euro will do what, Oh ya the IMF.

They will sing for it.

How can it be right that people with nothing at the end of the week pay the same as multi millionares? and the very wealthy in say dalkey ect.It will start at €100 and go up very quickly and then be privatized by the Irish Tory party. FG al…ways looking after the wealthy.They can only squeeze people so much If i hear” We all have to take the pain” from these politicans and buisness groups I’m gonna be sick..So much 4 a labour party, they dont know who they are..

we have to stand together and fight these taxes….it might start off at 100 but it wont stay at 100…..that is just to get us all sucked in and then they can charge what they like!!!!! They done it yrs ago introduced water rates @ £5 the first year and the following year it went up to £20 and 3rd yr went up to £75!!!! I say don’t start paying these taxes or we will be strangled with more bills!!!

Just got my rates $1,453.73 of which $834.21 is purely ‘improved residential’ based upon the property value. Water rates are about $950 a year (infrastructure) then usage costs on top of that each quarter. Prices in Australian dollars, for Perth as a comparison. Doesn’t help those in Ireland who are strapped as it is.
If the taxes go towards upkeep of infrastructure good, but as others have commented tax by stealth funds always go elsewhere.

point 1) its another charge on top of the other levies / taxes we already pay to alleviate the public finance gap by giving the bond holders a “money back special” (gambling term)

point 2) other countries have larger populations and different economies of scale. Comparison to them is null and void. 4.5 million people , how many have an income, how many can pay any additional charge , what will that mean to their bottom lines are the questions.

point 3) once a government puts a levy , tax , surcharge into its revenue stream what are the chances that it will ever be removed ? Has anyone talked about that ?

point 4) It looks almost certain that this new charge will come into effect. If that’s the case , the larger the house , the more water consumption ,the higher the charge should be.

FYI intel corporation fabs drink water like no tomorrow. Are there any changes to the existing commercial water rates for these large organisations ? …..something tells me no

The FG/Labour shills/plants haven’t been let loose on the poll yet, which leads me to believe that amount is not correct and could be a lot higher.

Or maybe that’s the point, see how many people bite and vote for it being lower than expected.

Either way, I’m not paying it

Again the rich get a break, when are the people of this country going to wake up. It is unfair, there should be no water or property charges for anyone except the rich. The rich won’t notice a charge of €100 per year but to me it might as well be a million.
I can’t afford it. Our assholes in government should look at what happened in Bolivia a few years ago, there is only so much the people can take.

More taxes = more admin = more civil servants = more cost to run the state.
Fewer taxes = less admin = fewer civil servants = less cost to run the state

Agree with Mark Browne, it seems to be forgotten that Ireland had Taxes on almost everything, thus our ‘expensive’ living.
The #Tiger# was only for certain people, and now we are paying their bills!,
but,dont worry, Lying Gael’ were going to change everything, they did… they are now getting the obscene wages instead of failure Fail
Nothing changes in Ireland, see how quick the ‘LAW’ was brought in for the 100euro charge, no such quickness when a LAW is needed to charge the wanker bankers (has’nt that gone very quiet)
Jack

I thought it would be much higher.
I’m not exactly a high rolling earner but after living for several years in London this is pittance in comparison to their rates & taxes.

Will my 100euro go towards doing up a TDs office or buy them an iphone?

I think it’s fair. People abuse water terribly I think it’s important we don’t take it for granted.

‘without water’ … Oops :/

Just dont pay it.I payed stamp duty when i bought my house and they want to tax me again for having my own house and water my dog wouldnt even drink.They cant jail the whole country.If we dont stand up for this they will walk all over us.

IMF gonna sell off your water

How on earth is a household property and water charge a “stealth” tax? I’m not making a comment on the fairness of it, but calling it a stealth tax is ridiculous – it’s a very obvious and tanglible charge with a very clear purpose.

Anyone who thinks these taxes will go to pay for our water services are deluded. Snap out of the X Factor. These taxes are to pay for our banks. Whether we should or should not have to pay for water is a side issue, this money is not bing used for water. Ask yourself do you want to fund German bondholders and huge pensions and salaried to our TDs. If you agree with that then go right ahead and pay for your ‘water’.

Okay… it’s not a stealth tax. Water doesn’t magically get purified and arrive at your sink. It costs money to get there and since no one paid for it there was no investment in the infrastructure. Now it’s going to cost a lot to fix when we have little money, hence the charges. Properties don’t sit magically away from the rest of the nation. they need services and infrastructure, be it roads, water, electricity or sewage. This costs money, money which we took in large one off amounts and then spent on the wages in the public sector. We should have had a property tax all along and no stamp duty but we were stupid. People screamed blue murder when anyone mentioned bin charges, or property charges or water charges. Now we see the consequences of not introducing those sustainable taxes a long time ago.

This is just a first step to introduce the concept and a political side step to call it household charge rather than property /water tax.

Ultimately it should be more significant for big houses and households.

In many countries in europe property tax varies from .5% to 2%

This should have been brought in before the boom and would have helped dampen some of the specualtion both coalation of 93-97 and the FF/PD failed to do it.

€100 is reasonable enough I suppose, the problem is it won’t be €100 for ever

It’s not really a stealth tax if you know about it and are going to get an annual bill for it’s payment though is it?

A stealth tax by definition would be one that is largely unnoticed as a tax, ie state lotteries, vat etc, no?

This €100 will increase every year, its hardly worth the bother and hassle of working, so much is taken off in taxes. Irish people are way too placid, this mess was created by bankers and developers and it is everyone else who is picking up the tab while they live in their mansions in Massachusetts.

My last bill for water charges was €800, I did the same to that bill as i did with the last. Shredder Job!
Breakdown of the Bill, I think around €250 for the water meter to be placed outside my house, €550 for the water charges since last year. Reason Ive to pay this and the neighbours both sides of me dont is because i’ve a business sign on the road. The office out the back doesn’t even have water going into it! Load of Muck!

This is what to expect , This is my update bill for water charges,

http://nalcro.com/pages/water.php

I have heard through local people who claim to be “in the know” that the water meters will not be provided by the state, they are unaffordable as the water networks need massive EXPENSIVE upgrades to support them. I have also heard that Water charges for homes could be in the €600 -800 range a year from 2014 , with or without meters. Also that residential property tax will be €1500 – 2000 a year at least. While this is unconfirmed rumor and not based on facts other than hearsay, I actually believe we could be looking at such prices considering our deficit. It makes sense too when you look at any country under an IMF bailout. It’s always hell for those countries in taxation terms. The Govt can’t tax it’s way out of the recession. But it thinks it can stealth tax it’s way out.

Not paying for undrinkable water!! And just how much more of our fecking wages do they want…..,..

It seems a bit rich that the government should want money from me seeing as I paid tax when I bought my house, I continue to struggle to pay my mortgage with no help from them, thank you very much, but they still feel entitled to tax me for doing this.
As for asking me to pay for water, ok does this mean I’m actually going to get drinkable water for 52 weeks a year, 365 days a year, and a steady supply of it that won’t destroy my kettle, shower washing machine etc? If so, fair enough I’ll pay a few bob for it but as things stand I do not get this kind of supply and if they intend to charge me for it they better get their house in order first or, just like the various broadband providers out there who promise blistering fast download speeds but in reality deliver dial-up speeds, they’ll be in breach of contract as far as I’m concerned and I won’t be paying for a service I’m not getting.

Well it’s better than I expected and less than other countries already.

Some have stated that people are all charged the same rate irrespective of the size of house. It’s the number of people using the water, not the size of the house that should matter. I live alone in a 3 bedroom house, should I pay the same as the family of 6 a few doors down in a similar 3 bedroom house?

As for the metering system to pay for what you use, good idea but there could be an issue there too. I presume these meters will be above ground so they can be read and hence the pipes going to them are more prone to freezing conditions. It may stop some people from leaving the taps running so they don’t freeze up, but say you do turn them off to save money. What happens when the pipes freeze and then burst? Who pays for the thousands of gallons that are wasted then?

100e is not too bad but yes it’s still another tax, but it could be a lot worse. People on low incomes should get a waver or reduced rate with spreadable payments. Those on welfare I presume would already be exempt.

Drink vodka and live in a tent.

Bottom line. Workers will be paying for everybody. While I don’t mind those that are recently unemployed there is cohort out there that think they should have everything for nothing and forever.

Is this their way of avoiding the bother of installing water meters or is that still going ahead?

Yes I will pay whatever I am asked to bail out my banks and my eurozone banks. I will vote what ever way the government tell me to vote. I will celebrate and “put on the green jersey” to pay the debts of other risk takers bets because its over a longer period.

2+2=5

I love Big Brother.

The Management of the water supply & quality could be better, so IF this money was used & invested for the stated purpose it would be excellent. Also, as stated previously, it is not unusual to have to ‘pay’ for water supply & it’s management. It is this way across a lot of Europe.
It is my belief that this money, under whatever title/excuse it is collected, will be diverted else where.
But; 1-Can we expect a higher standard of tap water?
2-As an occupier of a rented house can we ‘transfer’ our credit of payment to another residence?

thank god i dont have a property! ;-) well in other countries water charges are NORMAL! even its hard even more charges but stil….i kinda agree!