Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Admittedly they were in a rather bedraggled condition by the time the general election came.

People went out to vote and they believed what the Tánaiste said. One commitment he gave was that his party would not impose water charges on hard-pressed householders. Yesterday, however, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy O'Dowd, promised he would bring in legislation in the next two years to impose a new water tax on hard-pressed householders and taxpayers who are already carrying the burden of the massive bank bailouts. Is it Labour's way or is it Fine Gael's way as far as water charges are concerned?

See this speech in context