Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Like other Deputies, every day I get phone calls from families at their wits' end. As they calculate their water charge bill, they are trying to come to terms with the scale of pain the Tánaiste's Government is inflicting on them. Some people will pay this charge but they will do so resentfully. Others will refuse to pay, but a huge number of families simply cannot pay. They do not have the money. Some are families on social welfare; others are working families on low wages.

They have no disposable income at the end of the month. Now the Government expects them to pay hundreds of euro a year for the basic necessity of water. The Government is threatening these families, saying their water supply will be cut off if they cannot meet this bill. The Government seems prepared to deny these families the ability to wash their children or their sick parents, to clean or to cook. Why are the Tánaiste and the Labour Party threatening families who cannot afford to pay this charge?

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