Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I will make two brief points. With regard to charges and the alteration in people's water usage, the people whose behaviour will alter least are those on the highest incomes. They will be able to afford the charge and, as economic actors, will be less sensitive to the introduction of a charge. By its very nature, the charge will have a greater impact on middle and lower income households.

Second, no member country of the OECD has introduced a water charge and done so in a progressive way. This type of tax must hit people on middle and lower incomes hardest. I encourage the Government to review its position before we go too far down this line. There is €4.7 billion in the National Pensions Reserve Fund. Using that money strategically over three or four years to invest in water infrastructure, in a child care system or in rolling out broadband would generate economic activity and allow us to deal with long-term infrastructural projects.

This initiative is being driven by Fine Gael. In its general election manifesto, the Labour Party, which was my own party, made it clear that it was not in favour of water charges. We need to make it clear to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government that this is an unfair charge and to revise the position on it.

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