Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sticking to it, but I am addressing the point made by the now absent Deputy, who has run away to be with the said "Victor Meldrew". I welcome the clarity provided. Irish Water has not been the Government's finest hour, considering everything else the Government has had to contend with since taking office. It has probably been the worst-managed issue. The manner in which it has been addressed today and the time that has been allocated to it will go a long way towards rectifying the wrongs that were done.

I particularly welcome it from a rural dweller's point of view. Deputy Brian Stanley comes from a part of the country that is not dissimilar to my own, with a large number of people in group water schemes who are already paying for water. They do so in County Laois where there is also a large number of people with private wells. They will be obvious beneficiaries of what the Government has done today. I hope Deputy Brian Stanley will support the Government's initiative to help people in group water schemes and with private wells who have provided their own water for a long time.

Deputy Pearse Doherty is at the Select sub-Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform talking about a land tax on farms and a wealth tax being reintroduced. Sinn Féin is resurrecting its land and wealth tax proposals. I know it does not have a lot of time for farmers and rural dwellers, but I do. The Government's initiative for people with septic tanks, in group water schemes or with their own wells is long overdue recognition by the State that some people have to provide their own water and do not have the services to which urban dwellers have become accustomed. In some ways, their taxes have been used to subsidise these services.

Perhaps Deputy Brian Stanley might acknowledge that a lot of people in County Laois pay for water. With Deputy Michael Colreavy, he might also acknowledge that those who have provided their own water for generations will benefit from what the Government is doing. I know that Sinn Féin will be telling people in counties Laois, Leitrim and Sligo how to access the €100 the Government will provide. At the same time, however, its Members will come into the House and criticise it. The party's total hypocrisy is unbelievable. What has it done in the Six Counties, as it calls it? It has deferred water charges but not abolished them. It deferred them until after the Westminster elections and will state it has struck a deal for voters against the "big bad Unionists." It will make sure there will be no water charges. It stated this about PSNI stations, rural schools and accident and emergency units in the Six Counties, yet it renegued on every single one of these promises. That is because when it is in government in the North it has to make tough decisions like Fine Gael and the Labour Party must do here. It knows that when push comes to shove, the little abacus - that runs in one direction with money only going out and never coming in - it is running down here does not work north of the Border. The reality is that somebody has to pay for services. No matter how many holes it digs in backyards, it will never dig up a crock of gold. It might dig up the Northern Bank money, but it will never dig up the elusive crock of gold it is promising people. It will never have to pay for anything under Deputies Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald. Ask Mairia Cahill about the commitments of Deputies Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald and they will get their answer from her. The reality is that when it comes to telling the truth - Sinn Féin has some history when it comes to telling the truth - it is not capable of telling people in this jurisdiction or the North one scintilla of the truth. That is because the populism it has paraded throughout the island in recent years is coming to an end. People are wising up to it.

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