Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

At its most elementary this measure is about charging people for water. Solid arguments have been made for charging people for water but 1.6 million people in this country live in households that are left with less than €100 per month. They are on the edge. The Cabinet handbook states that a poverty impact assessment must be carried before implementing a measure of this nature. However, when I tabled a parliamentary question to ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government whether an assessment had been carried, he ignored the question.

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