Connacht Tribune
We have to pay for water – one way or the other
By Ciaran Cannon TD
Galway East
Whether it be in supporting our own families, our local GAA club, or indeed anything that we really care about, the need to use past experiences to determine future decision making is a very important one.
In the words of a very wise man: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
This week the Chief Executive of Galway County Council outlined in quite stark terms to his Councillors how seriously underfunded our local authority is.
This is not unique to Galway. All of our local authorities have been grossly underfunded since a monumentally irresponsible decision was taken by Fianna Fail to abolish domestic rates in 1977.
In that one cynical and ultimately successful attempt to entice voters into supporting them, Fianna Fail pulled the financial rug from under our local authorities and left them bereft of funds that were absolutely crucial to them.
Our local authorities have never recovered and in an attempt to shore up some of that lost revenue, the very same Fianna Fail imposed income taxes of up to 65% in the eighties.
In light of that very negative experience, I find it difficult to believe that we are right back in that very same place again.
In another cynical attempt to woo voters, particularly those who support Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail are proposing to abolish water charges and increase taxation to cover the cost of our water services infrastructure.
This is the same Fianna Fail who in their 2009 budget stated quite emphatically that they were committed to broadening our tax base by introducing water charges. This was the very wise approach taken by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan at the time.
Fianna Fail continues to support the concept of a national water utility because it is a sensible one. In fact the party calls for Irish Water to remain in place in its recent submission to the Commission on Water Services.
So let’s be clear here.
Fianna Fail wants to keep Irish Water but wants to fund it at a cost of one billion euro per year from our taxation system. A taxation system is already struggling to pay for healthcare, housing, education and critically important infrastructure. Something is going to have to give.
That is why Brian Lenihan, quite rightly, talked about broadening our tax base in his 2009 budget speech and suggested that charging for water was one way to do exactly that. Let’s look at that for a moment.
We are the only country in the whole of the EU not to charge for water. We are the only country out of 35 countries in the OECD not to charge for water. Ask yourself why is that the case?
Every one of those countries sees the sense in broadening their tax take beyond the normal income taxes, VAT, excise and stamp duty because every one of those taxes takes a major nosedive in times of recession. The introduction of property taxes and water charges helps to smooth out those highs and lows in our economy. Economists call them “anti-cyclical” taxes.
In other words they provide a stable and steady income for governments. They don’t go up when the economy booms and don’t disappear when the going gets tough. In short, they make sense.
That is why proposals to abolish these kinds of reliable income streams are deeply irresponsible.
I grew up in rural East Galway. We went to a well at the end of a field to get drinking water.
Yes, it was a lovely ritual that marked the beginning of each day but in 2016 our drinking water now comes through our taps.
Those of us that live in that part of East Galway saw the thousands of hours spent in digging roadside trenches, in putting in pipes all the way from Abbeyknockmoy to Carrabane and in connecting each and every house along the way.
We know the value and the cost of a clean and reliable supply of water and the vast majority of us are willing to pay for it.
What Fianna Fail are now suggesting is that those of us who have been paying for years for water through our Group Water Schemes or in providing our own wells, will now also pay for everyone else’s water and sewage treatment through our taxes. The extra imposition on our exchequer can mean one of only two things. Either our taxes go up significantly or things like healthcare and education remain permanently underfunded.
Is it fair that a family in East Galway who pay for their own well and septic tank will also have to fund, through their taxes, the filling of a private swimming pool in South Dublin? This is exactly what Fianna Fail are proposing.
Every rural dweller will subsidise the water and sewage treatment costs of urban dwellers. There will be no incentives whatsoever to conserve the precious resource that is our drinking water.
The taxes we pay will be stretched even more thinly across all of government spending and people will ultimately suffer.
Everyone who cares about the future of our country needs to know what is going on here. It is yet another attempt by a party to buy our votes with our own money. In fact it is even worse. Fianna Fail want to use the taxes of rural dwellers to buy the votes of Sinn Fein supporters in urban Ireland.
We can’t let that happen.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
