Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That was a completely cynical reversal of Sinn Féin's policies. It was fine for the party to be involved in establishing Northern Ireland Water, paying executives and putting in place a charging system. As I have stated on previous occasions, it is also fine for Sinn Féin to pay for septic tanks in Northern Ireland to be desludged but it does not want to pay for the desludging of such tanks in Cavan or Monaghan. Those in Sinn Féin will charge for water services in Fermanagh but they will not charge for them in Cavan.

It will be very interesting to see what those in Fianna Fáil are going to do later. After all, it was they who gave us water charges in the first instance. Fianna Fáil settled on a charge of €400 per year and it was responsible for creating the economic mire out of which we are still trying to drag ourselves. It will be interesting to see what the party which signed us up to water charges is going to do. Then there are the Independents. Obviously, some of them did not sign up to the motion. A number of them wanted to amend the Constitution in order that provision might be made in it in respect of Irish Water. The names of those Members are also absent from the motion.

The Opposition construct that is the motion before the House is nothing other than an example of absolute and blatant naked political opportunism.

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