Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

The anger at these charges is palpable. People are being hit daily with extra charges but no extra services. People who worked hard and paid their taxes, including the people who paid taxes of 60% and more in previous bad times to ensure services would be provided, are being asked to dig deeper and pay more for the same services they have been receiving. This does not add up. People know when they are being taken for a ride and being punished for others. Sinn Féin will campaign at every step against this regressive charge and ensure it is overturned. We will use every opportunity during the debates this week and next year to ensure it is consigned to the dustbin of history.

How dare the Government suck the oxygen of funding from local government and expect ordinary people to breathe it back in? I believe people will simply not pay. The household charge will not be paid because people cannot afford it. It is unjust and they see it as such. It should be withdrawn before it brings the Government into conflict with its communities. Regardless of what is said in this debate, people have made up their minds. There is a line in the sand they will not cross. Households will not pay this charge and the Government can make every threat it wishes to in the Bill. It can threaten courts, fines and escalating costs, but I believe people will simply withhold payment.

The Government is depending on 100% payment of this charge to compensate for the 84% cut in its contribution to the local government fund. The cut is €165 million and the Minister has earmarked €160 million from this charge to make up the shortfall. I do not believe it will happen. It is an exercise in self-delusion. From where will the balance come? If there is a 90% non-payment rate, we will have the ridiculous situation of the Minister trying to divide €16 million between all the local authorities in the State. Even if 50% of the population does not pay, it will reduce the amount to be divided among the local authorities by €80 million. Local authorities need the local government fund in 2012. Even with the best will in the world, the household charge will not compensate for the cut made by the Government.

We opposed the bin charges when they were introduced. We said at the time that the charges were the first step towards the privatisation of domestic waste collection. We were right. I predict that if this Bill is passed, it will be the thin end of a very thick wedge. Households will first be forced to pay the €100, and the cost will increase over time to perhaps €500, €600 or €700.

In conclusion, the Bill is, at best, ill thought through. It is a blunt instrument to punish households. It is another measure to force householders to make up the shortfall in the State's funding, as a result of money being sucked out to pay the interest on bank debts. At worst, it is an attempt to use the current economic crisis as a smokescreen to bury local democracy further. Either way, we will lead the opposition to it.

See this speech in context