Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Water is a human right and while water services must be paid for, this must not be done through a double tax on hard pressed citizens. The water charges, coupled with other taxes and charges imposed by Fine Gael and the Labour Party, will cripple households and families. From the outset, Irish Water has been mired in scandal. It is a toxic entity, which has become synonymous with everything that is wrong with this Government, namely, cronyism, political manipulation of State boards, threats to citizens and escalating taxes on struggling families. For these reasons, the organisation cannot be left with responsibility for the delivery of water services in this State.

It was revealed at the weekend that there are no records or minutes available of important meetings that were held in 2012 between the former Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan, and key players in Irish Water. This is extraordinary when one considers the scandal surrounding the huge sums of public money spent on consultants by Irish Water. It is simply not believable that meetings attended by the then Minister and the chairwoman of Bord Gáis were held to discuss the establishment of a major new public utility without notes being taken. Considering the issues at stake, there needs to an Oireachtas inquiry into the issue. The Taoiseach dismissed this proposal but that is the nature of this Government. Right-wing governments behave in this way when they are under pressure.

On the other hand, a real democratic revolution is taking place in the Right2Water campaign, a genuine grassroots citizens movement which has raised the political consciousness of communities across the State. The vast majority of protests against water charges have been family friendly, good humoured and highly effective and have succeeded in forcing major concessions from the Government. However, a tiny minority of groups and individuals believe the anti-water charges campaign is an opportunity for the promotion of their ultra-left politics, while others view the protests as a platform against all politics and politicians as well as An Garda Síochána. Their irresponsible actions do not reflect the views of the tens of thousands of families who have come out to protest against the imposition of this unjust tax. More important, their behaviour has played into the hands of the establishment which uses it to discredit the anti-water charges protests. Protests must be peaceful and safe and must encourage the largest number of citizens to participate. It was for this reason that I was delighted to see so many people on the streets of Dublin on Saturday.

Ultimately, the only way water charges will be scrapped will be by a decision of the Government. Sinn Féin is pledged to achieve this objective. My party stopped the imposition of water charges in the North and, in government, we will scrap them in this State. The Government has for months claimed the anti-water charges campaign is on its last legs. However, the huge turnout at Saturday's protest disproves that claim. Contrary to the Government's assertions and Minister's protestations, citizens are more determined than ever on this issue. Why did the Government not listen to the hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrated by scrapping water charges? Instead, anti-water charges protestors have been jailed, local authorities and landlords have been forced to hand over details of tenants, €600,000 has been wasted on a new advertising campaign, €85 million of public money was given to private consultants and €539 million was wasted on water meters. Today, the Taoiseach made clear that he supports the Minister's threats to take water charges from wages and social welfare payments.

I agree with the element of the motion calling for the ending of water charges, water to remain in public ownership and these issues to be made central in the forthcoming general election if they have not been resolved beforehand. However, the motion also calls for a boycott of water charge bills by householders. This is not the Sinn Féin position. We will support those who cannot pay and those who have decided not to pay. However, our position is the same as that adopted by the Right2Water campaign in that we do not call for a boycott. We have adopted this position for a very good reason. We have seen in the past, both North and South, the folly of political leaders advising householders not to pay certain taxes, however unjust, and subsequently being unable to defend the same citizens when governments drag people through the courts, as this Government has threatened to do this week.

Sinn Féin will offer serious and principled political leadership which provides an alternative to austerity and defeats this tax. We advocate the immediate repeal of water charges legislation. In that regard, it would be interesting to find out if the Fianna Fáil Party, which created water charges in the first instance, is willing to make a similar commitment. We also advocate the holding of a constitutional referendum to keep water services in public ownership and the dismantling of Irish Water and its replacement by a new model of governance, funding and delivery within full public ownership and with democratic control and accountability. Nobody should be in any doubt that water charges can and will be defeated. What we need is to maintain the unity of the Right2Water campaign and the determination of citizens who are showing the rest of us the way forward.

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