Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá a fhios ag an Taoiseach go bhfuil a lán daoine feargach faoin ábhar seo agus faoi Uisce Éireann. Tá muintir an Stáit fós gan eolas ar bith maidir leis an gcáin uisce. Tá a fhios ag an Taoiseach, agus é ag rith ar fud na háite, go bhfuil na daoine buartha faoi seo.

Two weeks ago, the Taoiseach informed the House that the water tax would cost householders an average of €240 per annum. While the Labour Party was clearly on board at that time, the Tánaiste, panicked by the sheer weight of public anger on this issue, initiated a belated negotiation on the detail of the tax. In the same period, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, provided details which the Taoiseach would not provide in the House and, in his usual off-hand manner, reassured everybody that the issue would be speedily resolved. The Tánaiste responded by stating the Labour Party would not be bound by any timetable. There one has it. It is a case of tweedledum and tweedledee and Government parties that are at odds with each other over an issue that was Fianna Fáil Party policy. At that time, it was opposed by the Labour Party and became one of the subjects of the party's Tesco advertisement during the general election campaign. As the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, knows, this is the type of thing one does during an election campaign. We must now conclude that the current shenanigans in the Cabinet are not about people's rights, conserving water, the provision of clean water or saving taxpayers' money but about trying to cobble together yet another pre-election stunt. One thing that is clear from everything we have heard is that there will be a water tax because the Labour Party does not have the spine or gumption to say "No" to Fine Gael. In the spirit of transparency, accountability and the openness he often professes, will the Taoiseach tell citizens and the Oireachtas how much the water tax will cost householders?

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