Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am staggered by the tone, nature and exchanges in this debate. The unreality of what is going on here is something which I do not believe will be lost on people outside this House. I wonder why so may people marched in the first and second marches and why they will march again on 10 December. Has the Government for one moment confronted the reality that those who marched were not the usual suspects, not the small numbers who we see on every march or the small numbers who protest about some specific issue? I do not share Deputy Higgins's talk of a risen people but this was middle Ireland in revolt as well as those who cannot afford to pay. It was a combination of those who can afford to pay and those who cannot. We should ask why this is happening. To me, it is because Irish Water symbolises what is so wrong in Ireland today and what is so wrong with this Government. It embraces so many wrongs and so many attitudes which people now resent that it has united unusual and unlikely forces against the Government and this measure.

The Taoiseach was right when he said this is not just about water: it is not. That attitude has been compounded. I was staggered when I heard the Minister talking this evening about his legacy. Honestly, I thought I was living on the funny farm when I heard that.

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