Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Is the Tánaiste seeking to undermine the letter the Taoiseach issued to the Select Sub-committee on the Department of the Taoiseach this week, in which he said the CSO is working to finalise its report "in the next two to three weeks", after which that assessment will be provided to EUROSTAT? In other words, there is no delay on the part of EUROSTAT; the delay is with the CSO, which is under the remit of the Department of the Taoiseach. That is why I questioned the Taoiseach about it. The information has not yet gone from his Department to EUROSTAT. The Taoiseach went on to say that the CSO has been advised that a final response from EUROSTAT will be likely to take at least two months.

The Tánaiste does not need to tell me about the independence of EUROSTAT. It is an institution I admire and thank God we have it. We need somebody to assess independently what the Government is doing. The Tánaiste dodged the question I asked, so I will repeat it. In view of the fact that no decision has yet been made about the status of Irish Water, will the Government defer the issuing of water charges bills? The Tánaiste did not go there because her party took out an advertisement in newspapers before the last election with a picture of a tap covered by an "X" and promising there would be no water charges. I am trying to assist the Labour Party to implement its pre-election promises not to implement those charges.

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