Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have this week seen one of the greatest U-turns by a Government in this history of the State. People power has effectively stopped the Government in its tracks. It shows that people power does work even though the Government turned a deaf ear to the real message people are sending out that water charges should be confined to the dustbin of history and possibly this Government with it. It still has not occurred to the Government that people will not pay twice for something that is a basic human right. Hundreds of thousands of people have marched and tens of thousands will join them in the coming months until this tax is removed from the agenda.

The Government's proposals contain the ludicrous provision that a single person would pay €60 on a yearly basis with potentially €100 as a supposed conservation grant until 2018 while a couple will pay €160 per year less that grant of potentially €100. This means that couples, some of whom are senior citizens living week to week, will pay more than double the amount paid by a single person - €40 extra. It does not make sense. Where is the fairness in that? Ability to pay is not considered in this model. There is no logic and there is certainly no attempt really to encourage conservation.

People on rent supplement who are struggling to keep their homes due to the Government's caps and cuts and the rises in rent caused by the Government's failure to build homes will find that their landlords can now take their bills from their deposits. Does the Minister of State not see how dangerous this is? These families cannot afford to live in any comfort and fear the loss of their homes. If they do lose their homes, they are in a very difficult place in respect of finding new accommodation. The Minister will now put in place legislation to take the lifeline of their deposits off them. Is the Government mad or has it lost the plot? This policy will actively increase homelessness. The idea of putting deposits on the table to pay water charges is an attack on both tenants and landlords who do not want to engage in tax collecting. The Irish Property Owners' Association has said that it will not do the work of Irish Water. Has the association even been consulted? Security deposits are not there to pay these bills. They are there to pay for damage to a dwelling which is beyond ordinary wear and tear. Landlords want that money to pay for any such damage. They do not want to have to take money out of this important fund to pay water charges and that is reasonable. Tenants need that money because it is essential in helping them in any move from one home to another. One of the major issues bodies like Threshold deal with is that of disputes over deposits. If a tenant is seeking to move to another home, they need to pay a deposit on that, which is very costly. If they expect to have their entire deposit returned as they have taken care of their rented home, they will be planning to use it to keep the wolf from the door during those financially difficult first few weeks of a move. Equally, a landlord who needs to repair a dwelling will rightfully want to use that deposit which is now supposed to pay for water charges. This will be a huge mess for the Government. It is an arrogant, spiteful and foolish scare tactic that will fail.

The Government wants to try the same tactic with local authorities in respect of their tenants. This policy is an attack on the most vulnerable tenants in the country - those on rent supplement. Many of this group are unemployed, are elderly or have disabilities or small children and have been hit hard over the lifetime of this Government. They are people on whom the Minister for Social Protection has visited quite a bitter terror over the past three years - far more than was visited upon her in recent times. If these tenants end up homeless due to this policy, and some will, they will face the possibility of having to stay in hostels and hotels separated from their families, their life and even their work. They will have to travel across the towns and cities of our country to deliver their children to schools and wait around for them to be let out with nowhere to go until they can return to the often insecure lodgings, lock the door behind them and be stuck in a small room with no kitchen, comfort or hope.

On 10 December, the people will show the Government what they think of its attempt at appeasement and bribery. They will not be fooled. Their message remains the same and will remain the same until the Government truly hears it - no water charges and no privatisation.

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