Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Yes, we do not need meters to have good water. The question I am asking is very simple. The gardaí refused to act to stop an illegal eviction by a landlord on the basis it was a civil matter. Yet, while other people stand peacefully over a water shore, they are told it is an illegal protest, and section 12 of the Irish Water Act is quoted, which states that Irish Water and its agencies can install water meters in an area. It does not say that person should not have the right to say "I do not want a water meter".

The Taoiseach brought in questions of people travelling around the country and around the city, and all of that. I was at a meeting last week in Drimnagh called by the Drimnagh residents support group, a residents association in the area, where more than300 people came out and said they did not want water meters installed at their premises or at their homes. If an ordinary person comes out and says to Irish Water or the subcontractor, "I do not want a water meter here, go on to the next house if they want a water meter", that is quite legitimate. Instead, the gardaí are being used to stand in estates, taking registrations of cars going in and out, removing people from the stopcocks over the shores and arresting them, bringing them down to Coolock Garda station and telling them they must wait to see if Irish Water or the subcontractor will press charges.

This is one law for those who have plenty of money and one law for those who are peacefully resisting. Ordinary people are coming out of their homes, with their children, to say they do not want a water meter installed, and they do this in the knowledge that they will get an assessed bill in the future - they are well aware of that so they are not doing this blind. They do not want a water meter and they are very angry. It is just a microcosm of the anger that this Government is imposing another austerity tax on people. I want clarity from the Taoiseach on this. Why is one law being used in one circumstance and another law being interpreted by gardaí as being a criminal matter when it comes to protests about water meters?

See this speech in context