Fianna Fail have just revealed today that they fully intend to relentlessly pursue of half a million households who have refused to pay their water charges.
According to Barry Cowen the parties environmental spokesman literally thousands upon thousands of people run the risk of having the charges deducted from their salaries or social welfare payments. It is understood those who refused to pay their current water charges will be pursued by a new, slimmed-down authority which the party will set up to replace the much hated Irish Water. The news marks yet another twist by the party who have had several flip-flops on the issue to date, but now the party are adamant that all bills issued must be honoured.
According to a party spokesperson: “You can’t have one half of the country paying, and the other half By refusing. We will address the issue of non-payment before we move to suspend charges.” The rather bold move comes after the party were considering the introduction of tax credits for households who have already paid their bills, but now the party say all non payer’s will be pursued through the form of attachment orders. According to reports the details of half a million households which have not yet settled their bills will be transferred to a new agency modelled on the National Roads Authority (NRA).
The latest move by Fianna Fáil suggests that the party have seemingly changed their minds about the abolishment of Irish Water after claiming for months on end that they were fully committed to suspending the charges for the next five years. The sudden u-turn has also caused more speculation with many believing the party will now enter a coalition with their so called arch rivals Fine Gael sooner rather than later.