Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall and that is the situation facing the Government. It is in that moment between pride and a fall. Faced with a huge protest on Saturday and the prospect of a massive boycott, all talk of listening has been forgotten and replaced by a high-handed, arrogant and bullying approach. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, is swaggering around the place like Nelson in "The Simpsons", threatening to rob people's lunch money. Housing agencies are sending threatening letters to their tenants and we have yet another deadline - a fifth - from Irish Water, taking all meaning from the word "deadline", which is designed to frighten people. Despite what Irish Water states, it is not happy with the level of registration. We face an incredible situation, weeks before the bills are issued, where the Government is threatening that Irish Water will be able to deduct charges from people's wages, benefits or pensions. It is not doing this by putting a Bill before the House or raising the matter for debate here. It is not even going on the airwaves to put forward and debate the issue. It is doing it through leaks in the media that are designed to strike fear into people across the country. Is this the new way of doing politics? Is this the democratic revolution sitting on an overburdened shelf of forgotten promises?

People deserve clarity, not more waffle. I, therefore, ask the Taoiseach to answer these questions clearly. When will we see the long promised Bill? Will the Taoiseach confirm that the water charges are not a Revenue tax and that, therefore, the powers of Revenue to deduct charges do not apply? Will he confirm that any move to give Irish Water these powers would mean Irish Water falling foul of the EUROSTAT market corporation test? If there is any move to have a fast-tracked court procedure which would require one court case rather than a multiple of cases to obtain an attachment of earnings order, will it not similarly have to apply to other utility companies? How on earth will the Government deal with the hundreds of thousands who will refuse to pay? How many hundreds of new judges will the State appoint? How many scores of new courthouses will the State build or will the entire system simply be blocked up?

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