A Tipperary Cllr. says he is deeply concerned about the transfer of water services from local authorities to Uisce Éireann.
Sinn Fein’s Tony Black was speaking following confirmation from Darragh O’Brien to SIPTU that workers who opt to stay in local authority employment rather than transfer to Uisce Éireann will have all their earnings protected.
Cllr. Black had previously expressed his solidarity with workers who had been advised to strike prior to this resolution.
However, despite this he told Tipp FM he is still worried about the entire transfer process:
“I am not confident I have had enough dealings with Irish Water over the years that I am just worried with regards the whole transfer of water services over to Irish Water. I am worried about the possibility of privatisation down the line. I am worried about the fact that it is very hard to get information from Irish Water, when I ring Irish Water helpdesk I speak to the loveliest people and the most helpful people but they are reading off the screen for the website the same as I can do at home, and the transfer of information is just not acceptable and it is just not good enough as far as I can see.”
Cllr. Black went on to tell Tipp FM why it is important for staff to have the freedom to choose whether to switch or not:
“If they get these workers to go to Irish Water, Irish Water then has immediately got serious local knowledge in different areas throughout the county, throughout the country, if the workers were to go they would probably enable Irish Water to do their job more efficiently, but at the end of the day it is up to the individual worker if it is the best fit for them, like it mightn’t suit they might have good contracts with the local authority.”
