Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Government will listen on this. People marched on two issues. One was the charges themselves and the demand was to abolish them. The other concern was around privatisation. Clearly, there has been a huge shift in opinion in Irish society. The Government has tried to respond to that shift. There were by-elections and large numbers of people came onto the streets. I heard from people on the doorsteps as a local representative in Dublin south-west that this is a tax too far. It was not only people from a Sinn Féin background who said it, but those from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour backgrounds. They were quite familiar with the argument that they are already paying for water.

The debate is supposed to be about bringing more clarity to matters. We were told yesterday that there would be more clarity, but there is still confusion and people still do not know what they are being asked to do. What we heard yesterday was a lure. As the fish, one will grab the lure and the next thing is that the gaff will pull one out on the bank to be left with this charge. People have choices. Yesterday we went through a farce with the Minister. We were told about conservation and a cap and then we were told that there was a possibility that one might save money by adopting various measures.

According to the Minister, Deputy Kelly, we could save some euro. When we had this conversation, we asked how we could save money. If one does not flush the toilet one might save some water. One could avoid running the bath and skip having a shower the odd day. The Minister is nodding his head. When washing one’s teeth, do not rinse. Given that it is the month of “Movember” one could maybe grow a beard. Do not wash the windows; it might allow clarity in.

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