Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

It is clear people are struggling through a myriad of taxes, be they stealth or otherwise, which have been introduced over the past several budgets. The previous crowd, as the Minister calls the previous Government, was also responsible for this. The Minister's own partners in government, the Labour Party, opposed water charges right up until they entered office. When I was on my local authority, my Labour Party colleagues made it very clear over the years that they were opposed to water charges. People are paying enough already through taxes, VAT, PRSI and the universal social charge.

I accept water is a precious commodity and we need to ensure adequate and safer supplies. The leakage of water varies across the country. An investment programme tackling this would provide a better means of preservation and job creation. The €500 million the Government proposes to borrow from the National Pensions Reserve Fund will be paid back over several years by ordinary people through installation of water meters. This will only add more pain to an already struggling population.

The move from local authority to a new semi-State company, the proposed Irish Water, is a retrograde step. All the expertise accumulated over the years in local authorities, the ease of access to services and points of contact will all be lost. They will be replaced by a new bureaucratic system with only some sort of a freefone service for people to access. Water should remain in public ownership through the local authorities. Why are we running down our local authorities? We are taking powers away from local authorities and, in turn, local councillors will pay a price down the road. This will lead to privatisation. In Dublin City Council, I remember the whole argument over bin charges. When the waiver was introduced, we were told it would stop the privatisation of bin collections. It did not. The allocations of water to each family will be whittled down over time. When the Minister's party is no longer in government------

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