Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Go raibh maith agat. Tosóidh mé ar an bomaite.

This morning, hundreds of thousands of people are coming to terms with the prospect of two new stealth taxes announced by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, yesterday. Tuigeann muid go bhfuil Fine Gael agus Páirtí an Lucht Oibre ag gearradh cána dúbalta ar an lucht oibre. Is mór an náire dóibh é sin. Despite all the pre-election promises from its Labour Party colleagues, we now know that new water charges will be introduced, along with a new household charge. Can the Taoiseach tell the hundreds of thousands of hard-pressed families listening to him today exactly how much these two new taxes will cost them? The Minister said the purpose of the water tax was to reduce water usage, yet 40% of our water is lost because of the bad mains system. I understand the cost of the new meters will be €500 million. Would the Taoiseach agree that the best way to conserve water would be to use that €500 million to improve our water system, creating jobs in the process, and reduce the massive waste of water, without imposing two additional taxes on hard-pressed working families?

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