Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

The public has good reason not to trust the Government. The Minister who is introducing this legislation told the people of north Tipperary during the last general election campaign that they should vote for him so he could stop Fine Gael introducing water charges. In the Tesco advertisement issued by the Labour Party one of the six things it named that would hurt the Irish people was a €238 water charge to be introduced by Fine Gael. In addition, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform told everybody a number of years ago that he was absolutely opposed to water charges.

Finally, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government now tells us that we never had an exemption under the EU water framework directive, even though successive Governments and Ministers have told the Dáil that there was and is an exemption under that directive.

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