Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

When the populations of the three Dublin local authority areas succeeded in forcing the Government of the day to abolish water charges in 1996, the then Minister for the Environment and now Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, introduced a new system of local authority funding. I have a copy of the KPMG report the Minister commissioned at that time, which stated that installing domestic water meters would be unproductive, inefficient and not worthwhile based on the revenue likely to be generated. Instead, the Minister proposed a mechanism whereby the rates support grant to local authorities was increased by allowing them to keep all of the proceeds of motor taxation. That taxation has increased four times since 1997. How dare the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, and his Government claim that Irish citizens do not pay for water? The current proposal has nothing to do with paying for water and is, in fact, simply another tollbooth on a necessary public service in order to pay the interest on a debt that was foisted on the shoulders of Irish citizens.

As Deputy Joan Collins observed, the sham row is over. The Government went into this looking to take €500 million out of the pockets of citizens and it has succeeded in that. If, as the Minister claims, some people will pay less, then we can be sure that some will pay more. I am shocked at how out of touch the Labour Party is on this issue, which really is saying something. The idea that obliging the working poor to pay more is somehow a thing to be lauded is amazing. Moreover, the notion that this is a conservation measure is a joke. Within a square kilometre of this House, we have a range of public buildings in which no rainwater is harvested. I doubt if a single kilometre of pipework has been fixed in the three years since the Minister came to power. It is sickening to note the Government's refusal yesterday to introduce a financial transactions tax - out of step with 11 other EU member states - which would have raised enough to negate the need for water charges.

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