DUBLIN (AP) — Organizers say at least 100,000 people are marching against Ireland’s new tax on water, a charge imposed as part of the country’s successful exit from an international bailout.
Saturday’s street demonstrations across Ireland organized by the Right2Water campaign are some of the largest since 2008 when the country started raising taxes and cutting spending amid a deepening financial crisis. European Union and International Monetary Fund experts who oversaw Ireland’s 2010 bailout recommended that Ireland create a water utility charge to help regain control of budget deficits.
The water charges introduced Oct. 1 are expected to cost a typical household 278 euros ($350) annually. Tens of thousands are refusing to pay.
Ireland stopped relying on EU-IMF loans in 2013 and has ended austerity in its 2015 budget.
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