Environment Minister Alan Kelly
Environment Minister Alan Kelly spoke to Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio One this morning of his absolute satisfaction with the number of Irish Water bills that have been paid (fewer than half).
He was so pleased he lost his temper.
Sean O’Rourke: “Just coming back to Irish Water, you said they have targets, what are their targets then for the rest of this year. They’re at 46% mid-year, what are the targets for end-of-year?”
Alan Kelly: “Well they’re not at 46% mid-year, they’re at 46% after the first billing cycle of three months where some bills have only literally been arriving in people’s houses in June. So that’s where they’re at. I am absolutely very satisfied with this figure.”
O’Rourke: “No tell us more about the targets.”
Kelly: “Well, as regards the first set of bills, I’m very satisfied and looking at the volume of people who are engaging with Irish Water – over half a million, 540,000 customer engagements – with the volume of people who are signing up to direct debits, we’re quite satisfied that that figure is going to increase continuously.”
O’Rourke: “Yes but you still haven’t – at the third time of asking – told me what the targets are…”
Kelly: “But Sean, Sean, but Sean..”
Talk over each other
O’Rourke: “We were never told what the targets were.”
Kelly: “But Sean, they’re in line with what was expected for a first-time utility bill and this is the first time it was ever paid..”
Talk over each other
O’Rourke: “Well, if you’d told us three months ago that…”
Kelly: “I’ll give you, I’ll give you, you’re looking for…it’s impossible to say straight out, for me or for anyone else who is in charge of departments that have utilities underneath, exactly the volume of people who paid
. It’s impossible for Alex White to say how many people are going to pay their bills in relation to the TV license, as it is with me and Irish Water but when we do comparisons to similar types of bills, the household charge, the payments to Irish Water are ahead of where it was with the household charge. If we do a correlation with similar type utilities, similar water-type utilities across Europe, for instance in our neighbours in Britain, it is, on par, not ahead of what was in there as well.”
O’Rourke: “Yes but if you had told us three months ago that, in response to the first billing that’s sent out, if we get 46% or if we get close to 50% compliance, we’ll be very happy with that, then you could say, yeah we’re happy with that. But you never told us what the targets were. So I’d just like to know, so that people can decide in 3 or 6 months time, are the targets being met, what are the targets now for the rest of the year?”
Kelly: “Our, it would be impossible with the first-time bill to set out an exact target…”
O’Rourke: “So there are no targets, that’ really what you’re saying.”
Kelly: “No I’m not saying that, at all Sean, and please do no put words into my mouth. I don’t respect that.”
O’Rourke: “No, I’m extrapolating…”
Kelly: “No, no, no, I’ve been very clear with you.”
O’Rourke: “You haven’t actually, you’ve most certainly not…”
Kelly: “I actually have.”
O’Rourke: “You’ve refused flatly to tell me about the targets. No but sorry…”
Kelly: “Sean, when somebody’s interviewing you, you’ve got to at least allow me the courtesy…”
O’Rourke: “Yeah, and I’ve given you four or five chances to say what the targets are and you haven’t done so.”
Kelly: “Sean, we expect everyone to pay this bill, if they choose, if they feel they have a difficulty with paying their bill, there are many options in which they can be facilitated. Those are people who decide, they have difficulty paying. For those who are refusing to pay, or saying they can’t pay, there will be bills, there will be additional charges that will kick in after a year, as you are well aware. On top of that then there will be, there is compliances coming through legislation which I’ve spoken about to [Justice Minister] France Fitzgerald. In relation to the current figures, as has been outlined today, I am beyond satisfied with the volume of people who have paid their bills in a short period of time when I correlate it with the only thing I can correlate it with, as a minister, is similar type bills which is the household charge or in other jurisdictions where water bills are paid as well. They are the only comparisons I have Sean and I’m very satisfied with them, is that clear?”
O’Rourke: “Well it’s cleat that you’re satisfied. We’re not clear as to what the targets for the rest of the year but you’ve explained..”
Kelly: “Well the targets is very simple. I expect whether that people will pay their bills and if they have issues with paying their bills, obviously Irish Water are going to engage with them and I’ve facilitated that and where people are refusing to pay there is compliance mechanism to ensure that everyone will pay their bills. And they are the targets Sean.”
O’Rourke: “Just remind us what Frances Fitzgerald is going to be bringing forward.”
Kelly: “Well through the Dail at the moment, Frances Fitzgerald is bringing in debt management legislation so it’s basically legislation to deal with all, all debt. So where somebody is not paying their bills or has a small amount of debt, it can be managed through this process. It’s to ensure that also we don’t have a situation where people are going to jail for small amounts of debt. So there can be mechanisms to ensure that people pay their bills.”
Later
O’Rourke: “As they say in Sky News, this just in, minister. ‘Irish Water is a fiasco, that’s now an official fact. Kelly must go’ says Mattie McGrath, TD, your new constituency colleague in the one county constituency of Tipperary.”
Kelly: “Look, I stopped taking Mattie seriously a long time ago so I won’t be taking that comment seriously either. You know Mattie will do anything for attention and sure here’s another example of it.”
Later
O’Rourke: “And one last, last question, the name of the new political venture, I think it is going to be a party, Social Democrats, Stephen Donnelly, your former colleague Roisin Shorthall and Catherine Murphy – what do you make of that?”
Kelly: “I didn’t even know that to be honest with you. They’re name is Social Democrats?”
O’Rourke: “Dot ‘i’ ‘e’.”
Kelly: “That’s a surprise to be honest with you given the background of particularly one of them but that’s up to them. I wouldn’t discourage from going down any political venture. That’s their own business and best of luck to anyone who’s involved in politics. ”
Listen back here.
Previously: Trying To Bury Caesar
Mark Stedman/Rollingnews.ie
