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IRISH WATER IS set to spend less money on infrastructure than the Government’s average spend over the past 10 years.
The company’s capital spend on infrastructure up to November of this year was €300 million – while the government’s average spend between 2004 and 2013 was €430 million.
RTÉ reports that Irish Water is set to fix the same number of leaks this year as last year – despite a huge meter installation programme which it said would detect leaks.
Irish Water says it is not the number of leaks but the amount of water lost that is most important.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Irish Water’s Michael McNicholas said this year’s spend is larger than the past three years and ‘it’s ramping up’.
He said that Irish Water is repairing the full length of pipe in some cases and not just repairing individual leaks over and over – but this is still recorded as one repair.
We’ve spend more money on replacing pipes rather than just fixing leaks.
“It’s not just about fixing leaks- it’s about reducing the amount of water that is lost.”
He said that Irish Water has made significant progress identifying and fixing some major water leaks and its capital spend will be €340m by end of this year.
He added that, “We have discovered the situation is worse than it was believed it was.”
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Why didn’t they just fix the pipes instead of wasting time and money installing meters
Did you read the article at all???
On top of the madness of spending a fortune on the metering programme, how do they propose to detect leaks using these substandard (non smart) water meters? At least if you were building an infrastructure for the future, they would be connected to some sort of smart grid. More proof, if any was needed, that the privatisation of public water had nothing to do with any of the good parts of modernisation. Why are these people still in their jobs?
They really don’t help themselves, do they?
It looks like masss non-payment will sink it anyway – a poll said 2/3s won’t be paying !
More evidence that Irish Water was set up as a means to increase taxation on the public, while at the same time actually REDUCE spending on critical public services, not only that, but to provide another trough for rich elites Denis O’Brien to tuck into.
What are you talking about?? The article says they covered the same work for way less money. Clearly that’s way better than the way it was before??
Did you read the article at all or just the headline?
So you think plugging a few leaks is equivalent to carrying out the same amount of work that has been done previously?
What about replacing ageing pipes and water treatments systems? What about the increase in lead content which has made water in some areas undrinkable? There has been a visible decline in water quality and service over the last number of years and the percentage of leakage is either the same or worse than before.
A decline in spend = a decline is service. Any idiot can understand that.
Would you like to apply that same argument to the current state of our Healthcare system?
Read the article again. It says they replaced more pipes. That’s exactly what you’re saying they should be doing and they did. They also did this for much less than the amount of money that the government was spending on infrastructure.
The same level of service (or possibly better going by your pipe comments) for less money is an improved service, and I don’t need to call someone an idiot to prove a point.
They ought to be replacing all the pipes, not patching them up.
How do I put this nicely,
Irish water can go F**k themselves…
Sure after paying bonuses etc, there’s nothing much left for that type of thing,
Agreed stephen. IW must be up to their neck in debt already. Massive staff/running costs…and they haven’t made a penny yet??
Did you read the article???
Ah be quiet Dennis!
Still not getting it, do I have to shout. NO WAY WE WONT PAY.
So shut up and don’t pay no need to keep reminding us.
Yes there is,Cian!
“NO WAY WE WON’T PAY.”
Ok cian you are not a morning person, I get it, I shouldn’t shout first thing in the morning.
As a double negative, does that mean we definitely will pay?
@john, it’s ‘no way, we won’t pay’. Not a double negative with the comma.
Where is the taxpayers money of 1.4 billion gone?? Also ” its not just about fixing leaks- its about reducing the amount of water that is lost” well it is about fixing leaks how do they think the water IS been lost.. No one in their right mind would trust iw. Saying they will process all returned iw packs even the ones that had ” no contract no concent” is yet another lie as it would never stand up in court. Shut them down now!
Did you read the article?
Are you looking for someone to read it to you, Youk?
We won’t pay
Irish Waster would be more apt .
Irish Water – “It’s not about fixing leaks – it’s about reducing the amount of water that is lost”
Eh…I think they kinda go hand in hand…
I bet they’re some PR guru top dollar to come up with this type of nonsesnse.
I’m having a glass of irish water right now, it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth
And fluoride in your system.
How could it leave a bitter taste in MY mouth
Rainwater Harvesting…..Full tanks outside. Happy Days.
Fluoride is odourless and tasteless
That’s probably just the over use of chlorine and it’s by-product trihalomethanes.
Oh, and faeces if you are out whest.
Have a Christmas bonus on me it’ll cheer ya right up
Enda dear Enda oh what have you done ?
“It’s not just about fixing leaks- it’s about reducing the amount of water that is lost.” ??? used or lost ??
some leaks are bigger than others. doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.
In this context, lost. if IW were to reduce water loss at a reduced cost than the local authorities were able to do, that surely further proves that the local authorities are poorly run and wasting tax payers money?
careful padraig you’re reading too much into this story, no where dose it say the have reduced water loss, fixing the same number of leaks for less does not equal bigger reduction in lost water, they might have been targeting small leaks.
Yes but the water still goes back into the earth where it came from .
Busy at it Johnny Boy ….. great value for money …..trolling the Journal ……. #Dundalk needs your expertise , The new super council in Louth needs all hands on deck to deliver it from bankruptcy and fulfill Bully Boy Hogans Dream . #irishwater is a toxic brand and your party’s attempt to sell it to “We the People ” is failing miserably . Yuletide pleasantries and all that comrade …. Love your choice of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascinator suits you Sir (“,
It’s about ripping off the people
at a time when IW and this government are telling us that we need to spend more money on our water, IW are actually spending less.
“We have discovered the situation is worse than it was believed it was.”
How very very convenient
Podge, that is the stock answer from every government coming into power as an excuse for not doing what they said they would. IW, must have got hold of the FG manual.
Yes the fluoride did not work as well as we thought on the Irish sheeple.They are awakening instead of sleeping.
That is the line that stuck out for me to Podge, the very last one in a load of drivel.
If you asked a thirteen year old to write that article, they would be moved down a class…
If that’s the Ervia school of thought then we should all be worried.
Its not as though they run a gas company, is it?
Hopefully a few of the Irish Water who were recently fired will turn whistleblowers and expose the ‘ irregularities’.
Irish water is a scam….simple as that and they have been caught with there snouts in the swill.
It never was about improving anything. Are there any real news?
Evaporation and stuff.
Or testing water. We’ve been onto them now several time as the water seems to be turning the partners dyed blonde hair green. They basically suggested that it’s prob a ph imbalance and that they wanted nothing to do with it. They could of at least tested the water
It could be the chlorine in the water reacting with the hair dye
It could be your wife’s cheap dye job… Or shampoo etc.
Seems completely specious reasoning to assume there’s something wrong with your water.
That’s definitely the chlorine. There are some good shampoos that can prevent this (or ironically rinse using rainwater only after washing in the chlorine-water).
Poorly written article. They aren’t spending any more money, yet ‘this year’s spend is bigger than the past 3 year’s’.
Does The Journal have an editor at all?
I’ve seen several contradictory articles like that lately
Make the next General Election a referendum on the water tax
So they’re doing more and spending less money. Misleading headline about a public service that could do with some positive publicity. Comic book level news reporting guys.
“public service” in much the same way as an aggravated robbery serves the victim. This is not a service. It’s an extortion racket and using words like “public service” to describe it is misleading to the naive amongst us.
Look people……..The point is 340 million or 430 million, it doesn’t matter. We have been paying, in VAT & Road Tax, towards water for the last number of years to the tune of 1.2 BILLION per year. Now, where is all that money gone? That is the question which should be answered. But in all probability, it has gone to pay for the bailout of the banks, government pensions and expenses.
Irish Water, a scam from day one.
Please read the article (twice if needed) before commenting. Some key phrases can be missed on a skim-through of an article
“Irish Water is repairing the full length of pipe in some cases and not just repairing individual leaks over and over – but this is still recorded as one repair.”
Thank you for your understanding on this matter, it will help to make the comments section easier and more pleasureable to read.
read it very carefully, nowhere does it say they have reduced overall water loss, or improved overall quality. without some benchmarking what they say will be meaningless.
It makes more sense to replace the full length of pipe anyway. A lot of the infrastructure is old cast iron pipes, if there is a breach in a pipe at one point then it’s not rocket science to assume the rest of that pipe is affected. Modern water pipe is comparatively cheap and infinitely superior and it’s not as if gangs of men with pickaxes are required.
Putting a succession of repair collars on the same length of pipe is equivalent to putting a plaster on a cut throat and you might as well dig a 20ft trench as a 6ft one.
Misleading headline by the journal as usual. More click bait. The CEO was on Morning Ireland and gave a detailed interview that even a 2 year old would understand. But evidently not the journal!!!
Apparently reading skills among the Irish population is significantly lower than first thought.
Horrible headline, given the article essentially says the exact opposite of it. Well done The Journal.
Yes… We judge the effectiveness of a government dept based on what it spends… The more it spends the better it must be performing it’s function.
Lousy provocative journal “journalism”.
I am not a fan of Enda or an apologist for his arrogance. Not justifying irish water either, but the RTE article, selectively reproduced, says…
“Govt spend in 2013 was 275 million.
Irish water spent 300 mill in 11 months… Target is 340 mill for full year”
Irish Water spending more than Govt is the truth
“Committed to spend 1.77 billion over next 3 years…
Close to 600 million per year”
Convenient omissions Journal
Much higher spend than the 10 year average quoted for Govt
Very skewed biased reportage. The press have a responsibility to report truthfully.
Even within the biased report the article states that the same number of leaks were repaired year on year and that the Irish Water spokesperson is focusing on the more serious leaks to save biggest volumes of water ie to get best value for the consumer.
Yet another sloppy headline from the journal…
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