Irish Water is fast becoming the Gomer Pyle of Irish utilities. Slow, dim-witted, and incompetent at every turn.
The latest in a long string of bungling endeavors is the need for the Department of Social Protection to have people’s PPS numbers, again, if citizens wish to avail of the so-called ‘water conservation grant’.
And to add insult to injury, it will be ANOTHER private company doing the PPS (and bank details) collecting over the phone. People will have to go through the hoops once again to register with this company, which in turn will hand the sensitive data to the Department.
There is also a big question mark hanging over the whole Irish Water thing in the form of the Eurostat ‘Market Corporation Test’, which will determine whether the company can finance on its own in the long term, and thus stay outside the Government’s books. If it fails to pass, there will be profound ramifications for the Coalition, as promised tax cuts may have to be reversed altogether to feed the monster’s hunger for public money.
With multiple protests happening all the time, one thing is for certain; the Irish Water mess is not likely to be resolved any time soon.