Thurles Information

Details of a so-called Household Charge, also known as a Flat Rate Water charge, will be introduced in early 2012, according to Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr Phil Hogan.

Like everything else, these days, which is newly undertaken by our Coalition Government, we are told it is a requirement of Ireland’s European bailout package, so it is not the government, who force any hardship on the residents of Ireland, blame our new invaders Europe.  If the government can not blame Europe, we are told it will create jobs. This €160 million that this charge is expected to raise, we are told will be set aside to fund essential local services.

True liability will be fully determined in January, with payments due three months later and a late payment penalty of €10 per month will apply in cases where the payment is late. Households can choose to pay by direct debit in four instalments to spread the cost throughout the year.

What Local Services?

What local services is Phil Hogan talking about, we get none? Firstly Minister, both County and Local councils have no employees to carry out funded essentials services. Secondly, we already pay car taxes for repairs to our road which are no longer repaired. Potholes presently in Thurles are now growing into craters. Our pavements are far beyond what is permitted by normal health and safety standards. Everywhere we attempt to park our cars we are forced to pay between €1 and €3.50 in extra charges, indeed a visit to our public toilet is €0.50. Where is this money going and what services are you now funding?

Presently we have 9 local councillors in Thurles with all their powers removed working without any employees /staff.  Why are we paying Chiefs when all the Indians have long fled the Reservation ? Where is the dust gathering McCarthy report when we need it? Local councillors are only being kept for use as over paid Party Canvassers for local politicians, come next election. Most do not turn up to their one Council meeting, held each month, but still receive full payments.

Perhaps the Minister has forgotten, so let us remind you:-
Hospital A&E charges have risen to €100. On diagnosis of your ailment, if you have no medical insurance you will not receive immediate attention, but will wait from 9 months to 3 years for basic surgery etc..
Nenagh Hospital down graded to the status of a clinic.
Deposit Interest Retention Charge (DIRT) has risen to 27%.
Proposed Septic Tank Charges from the Autumn under an EU directive relating to ground water quality.
The Universal Social Charges (USC) is now a permanent fixture.
Policing reduced with more Law and less Justice, resulting in increased crime.
Cigarette prices increased by 10 cents per box of 20, without any warning.
Passport Fees for persons over 65 have been introduced.
Bus and Rail fares hiked by over 100% in some cases in Thurles, (Still waiting for a reply to my Email from Leo Varadkar.)
Social Welfare Benefits have been decreased.
NCT on cars now include an annual dimension on vehicles over 10 years. This only affects the lower paid worker. A one year old Garda Cars or car used by a Commercial Traveller has run up twice the mileage of my four year old model, but needs no NCT. Think about it.
Student services charge increased by €500 to €2,000, with Student Grants cut by 4% to 30%.
Optical and Dental Benefits cut even to those who have contributed to same for over 30 years.
Childcare Supplements cut.

I think we now need to introduce a type of Egyptian Military Council and bring before this Council, those politicians, bankers, lawyers etc., suspected of corruption, misappropriation and the deliberate wasting of public funds, through the dereliction of their duty. Irish people are now quickly learning that leadership is above the law.

Readers note:- Under the terms of Ireland’s deal with the EU/IMF, the government are fully committed to introducing property tax in 2012, while increasing it in 2013, followed by a full system of property taxation in 2014. This means that this €100 charge is simply the starting point, and with households also set to face an additional water charge by 2014, disposable income looks set to continue to diminish rapidly.

Best of ‘Irish Luck,’ in collecting this one, you see we are all on debt row (Pardon the pun.) here in Co. Tipperary Minister, you assisted in putting us there.

Truth is we cannot even borrow the necessary money, even if we were willing to pay this crippling tax.

Governments have forgotten the basic rules of a fair economy and fiscal management, “A part of everything you earn is yours to keep.” Latter is what gets everyone out of bed in the morning.

Deputy Noel Coonan has given a guarded welcome to the amalgamation of Tipperary County Councils North and South, into one unified County Tipperary Council. The local Fine Gael TD said the merger will most definitely “lead to greater efficiencies and savings within the Council, with money being directed at essential works instead of duplicating administration costs.”

However, Deputy Coonan said it is paramount that the new Council be based in North Tipperary, especially since Clonmel already has an existing Borough Council.

“It is essential that the new Tipperary authority operates from the County Council building already located on the Limerick Road in Nenagh which was recently custom built and is in perfect condition to be fully utilised by this proposed new amalgamated Council. The finer details are in train and I will be strongly pushing for the Nenagh premises to be the new headquarters. Alongside this, Minister Phil Hogan has yet to outline how this merger will affect the number of Councillors that will be elected to the unified Council,” said Deputy Coonan speaking to Thurles Information, this morning.

A single County Council is expected to be established to govern the whole of Tipperary, with effect from the 2014 local elections. This new authority will serve a significantly increased population of over 159,000 people. This latter population increase compares with the present situation where North Tipperary County Council serves 70,219 and South Tipperary County Council serves 88,433.

North and South Tipperary were among the authorities for which the 2010 Local Government Efficiency Review Group report recommended joint management arrangements. [Click HERE for the report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group.] It recommends that a full merger would achieve greater savings, both through the generation of scale economies and other efficiencies including the removal of duplication, with the integration of necessary administrations and public services delivery.

The Local Government Efficiency Review Groups report states that the national financial impact of their recommendations if implemented would amount to country wide savings of €511 million. While most of the recommendations concern efficiency savings, a number of recommendations also extend to cost recovery and revenue raising, with an emphasis on a more equitable distribution of the overall revenue burden. Of this €511 million total expected savings, €346 million would be made up of efficiency savings, and €165 million would be accounted for, through improved cost recovery and revenue raising. These savings would take a year or more to fully achieve.