Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil may claim it would make exceptions such as those in the Bill, and we would certainly support it. Where water is contaminated, it is common sense. Nobody should have to pay for any poor-quality service. Fianna Fáil may say it would be more generous than the current Administration in ensuring that less of the burden would fall on those with lower incomes; however, I question whether it would do things any differently if it were on the other side of the House. Fianna Fáil agreed arrangements with the EU and the IMF. Fianna Fáil projected that it would bring in exactly the same amount of money as Fine Gael and the Labour Party are projecting. The only difference is that Fianna Fáil was going to do it one year earlier.

Fianna Fáil and the two parties in government are well aware that the average charge currently quoted will rise as the full impact of charges takes effect and Irish Water ensures that all the costs of maintaining water services are recouped from water charges. We know the high cost of establishing Irish Water on top of the local authorities which continue to provide the service. The cost will be recouped when the short-term allowances currently proposed are removed and the full costs are passed on to householders. I have said before, as have many other commentators, that it will eventually entail a charge of more than double the €278 currently quoted for a household of two adults. Even as things stand, many households, depending on their composition, will face water bills well above €278.

Before the Minister of State went on his summer holidays, he maintained that the average charge would be €240 per household. During the summer break, when the House was not sitting, the real figures were released and we know that a household with two adult children, even if they have no income, will pay between €480 and €490. This is a huge charge that will hit low-income and middle-income families, on top of the property tax, with no account taken of ability to pay. There are people who cannot put bread on the table. I do not know if the Minister of State realises this. I am sure he met some of them over the summer. They are in dire straits. They are people in negative equity, who cannot pay their mortgages and whose mortgage payments nearly equal their total household incomes. I plead with the Minister to do something about it. It is a serious issue. Deputy Mulherin referred to affordability. I welcome the fact that she, as a Government Deputy, did that.

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