Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleagues in supporting this Bill, introduced to the Dáil by Deputy Barry Cowen. The Bill, which is very appropriate, deals with one aspect of the unfair charges that the public will experience as a result of the approach the Government is taking. Rightly, it deals with the matter on the floor of the House, where we are actually getting a chance to debate the charging structure. The Government of which the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, is a member has not given the Oireachtas, including the committees, the opportunity to do so properly. Instead, we have seen the Government devolve responsibility for setting the costs that the public will face to the CER. This has been a standard tactic adopted by the Government regarding some very serious issues. Instead of taking responsibility and getting rid of many quangos, as it promised to do, it has reverted to default mode. Thus, instead of taking responsibility for certain actions itself, it has given responsibility to another body. We hear about this repeatedly on the floor of the Dáil, as we did this morning from the Tánaiste. We are told our question is not for the Government to answer but for the CER, which will be publishing its report in the coming months.

Unfortunately, when the Government takes big decisions, as on the charging structure, it times its announcements to avoid scrutiny as much as possible. When it introduced its Bill for the first time, it was rammed through the Dáil in a matter of a day and guillotined without an appropriate opportunity for debate. When it introduced the charging structure, it did so over a bank holiday weekend in August, again to avoid scrutiny as much as possible. This morning our party leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, called for a framework for affordability to be brought into play to assist families across the country who dread the introduction of the charges and who, over recent months, have been wondering how on earth they will be able to afford another bill.

The best the Tánaiste could offer this morning was to indicate that there would be an assistance payment of €100 per household towards the cost. Despite this, the water cost for a one-person household, for example, will be €176, and for a five-person household it will be up to €584. The Tánaiste whimsically dismisses genuine concerns over the fairness of this and the ability of families to pay for water with the response that the €100 will be of massive assistance to them. The assistance payment of €100 will not go very far towards meeting the cost faced by families with five adults.

Unfortunately, this is a trend we have seen from the Government, despite the fact that it has consistently referred to how the economy is starting to improve. This is something we all want to work towards, but the reality of the policies the Government has implemented is that many of the most hard-pressed have taken a large part of the burden. Appropriate attention or priority has not been given by the Government to trying to ensure that those who cannot afford to pay and those who are most burdened will be assisted and protected. We witness this not only in regard to water charges but also in regard to school charges, for example. As my party spokesperson on education, I am more aware than anyone of the impact of cuts to schools' budgets. The schools have had to go back to families and ask them to fund-raise instead. This is another example of how the burden has been placed on families with the highest costs and the least money to meet them.

Consider the logic of the Government's investment of so much in metering and in Irish Water. We note that a total of €85 million will have been spent on consultant reports between now and the end of 2015. This concerns matters that do not have a direct impact on investment in our water infrastructure or network. It makes no difference whatsoever to it. Surely at this point, given our current environment, the money would have been better spent on infrastructure.

Deputy Barry Cowen's Bill is very sensible. It makes a very straightforward request, namely that those who are not getting water of appropriate quality or are getting water that is dangerous to drink, thereby costing them money, be exempt from having to pay water charges. I endorse the Bill and encourage support for it across the House.

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