Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Government's intention to charge people for the water they need to drink and wash is utterly despicable. That is why it has chosen to take the equally despicable decision to ram the Bill through the House a few days before Christmas. It is cynical in the extreme. The Government is perpetrating a heist and trying to cover up the robbery of one of the most precious and vital resources for the people of the country in order that it can sell it to its cronies in big business who will make their money by selling it back to ordinary citizens. The shocking backdrop is that the owner of one of the companies installing the meters is Mr. Denis O'Brien, one of the richest people in the country. Mr. O'Brien got a write-down of €110 million on the debts of a company he took over from Anglo Irish Bank. These debts were written off and he got the contract to install the meters to charge us for water. It is a heist and a robbery. The Bill gives Irish Water the despicable power to reduce water supplies to people who need it to drink, wash their children and keep their homes clean. This is one of the sickest things imaginable. All of us know that water supplies have to be funded and financed, but the way to do this is to pay for them according to people's means through a progressive and fair tax system in order that everybody, including children, the vulnerable and ordinary people, will have access to water based on need and right. The Government is robbing our water in order that its mates can sell it back to us at a profit.

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