Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

We support the need to protect groundwater. There is no equivocation on that. We must do it. We also agree that this situation has been hanging over us since 2009 and it must be addressed. However, we must be careful about charges in the current climate. All wedges have a thin and thick end. A sum of €50 might appear to be a modest amount but we are talking about rural families with significantly increased school transport costs, the universal social charge which all rural dwellers pay from their earnings, increased mortgages and increased fuel bills.

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