Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many people were waiting on yesterday's announcement and some were hoping the announcement would go further, as even the Minister, Deputy Howlin, will recognise. I listened to the speech from start to finish and I re-read the script last night. In the opening lines the Minister talked about emotion and anger as opposed to prudence and commonsense. The emotion and anger that has been shown by the tens of thousands of people who have taken to the streets right across this State to voice their opinion in a very peaceful and channelled way in recent weeks and months is not going to subside as a result of yesterday's announcement. That is my honest belief.

I base this on a number of things. I attended many of those protest marches and I have spoken at length, as I am sure the Minister has, with many of those people who raised concerns in regard to water charges in recent months. I am not for one minute suggesting it is only Members on this side of the House who understand the fears and concerns that people have, and I am sure those fears and concerns have been relayed to every Member of this House, including members of the Cabinet, whether through their constituency clinics, through private chats in their own free time or through official correspondence to their Departments.

The fears and concerns, or at least those that have been expressed to me, have been around a number of issues. One issue is the question of affordability and another is around a principled stance against water charges, and I do not believe either issue was resolved yesterday. Tens of thousands of people did not take to the streets with placards saying: "Can we have concessions?", "Can you reduce the price?" or "Can you set up a people's forum of 60 people who can engage with Irish Water to help them with their PR strategy in a communication message?" That is not what people took to the streets to demand; what they took to the streets to demand was the abolition of water charges.

Nobody I spoke to said that we should not invest in our infrastructure. Everyone recognises the need for that and it is probably the only issue that everyone can agree on in this debate. We need significant investment in our infrastructure to ensure we can provide people with clean water, which is a basic human right. Therefore, yesterday's announcement is not going to satisfy those individuals.

Some of the announcements that were made yesterday by the Minister go to the very heart of why people will not take on board what was said. There is a huge credibility issue for the Government when it comes to this issue, as on many other issues. To focus on this particular issue, however, we were initially told we had to have PPS numbers and the system could not work without them, yet we are now being told we do not need PPS numbers. We were told the charges which were set by the regulator were needed in order to gain the funding to help build the infrastructure, yet we now see those charges being dropped and capped. On the issue of privatisation, which was a concern of many, we were told it is not a concern, it is covered in the legislation and nobody need have any fear as it is never going to happen, yet we had the Minister stating yesterday that additional legislation is to be brought in, almost like a double safeguard. Anyone who read the initial legislation would know it did not prevent privatisation. Even what the Minister is now proposing leaves the option of privatisation on the table and the only way to remove that option is by holding a referendum. The fact the Government is refusing to do so will leave many people with the opinion it is still a very live option for this Government, maybe not in this term but, if it has hopes of being re-elected, it could do it further down the line. However, the fact it is a possibility is of concern to people.

With regard to the people's forum which was announced, many will view it as no more than a talking shop - that is the reality for people on the ground. If the Government is so concerned about hearing people's views on this issue, if it is so committed to having people give their opinion and having their say on this issue, then it should call a general election. It will then hear very clearly what people are saying on this issue of water charges and Irish Water.

The proposal to allow landlords deduct unpaid charges from deposits is a very low, despicable act. Does the Minister realise how difficult it is for some tenants to get back deposits from landlords as it is, without not just making them de factodebt collectors but actually giving them the power through legislation to deduct this? It is simply unacceptable.

Yesterday was all about giving clarity and certainty as far as this Government was concerned. People are very certain of four things following yesterday's announcement: first, the introduction of water charges is going ahead; second, the rollout of the metering system is going to proceed; third, the only way charges are going is up; and, fourth, there is still no constitutional safeguard in regard to the provision of water.

That is what people are demanding and that is what people on the Government side should have heard from the various protests. They did not and on 10 December, people will come back on to the streets and say it even louder and maybe, just maybe the Government might begin to listen.

See this speech in context