Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Does the Tánaiste believe it is decent and fair that ability to pay is not taken into account? We have raised this time and again. People who advocate for those on the margins have stated that an ability-to-pay clause needs to be put in place, but it has not been. We are now being told by the Minister, Deputy Kelly, that it will be taken into account. If it is so important, why was it not put into the primary legislation in the first place?

At this late stage, I would urge the reversal of this decision to allow the Government to pick the pockets of people who simply cannot afford to pay. They are queuing up in the offices of community welfare officers every day of the week looking for additional social welfare payments because they are struggling. The Government is now saying in primary legislation that it is going to put the hands of Irish Water into the pockets of people living in poverty.

Would the Tánaiste agree that this legislation on the attachment of orders to social welfare payments and lower wages is an attack on vulnerable people, that it is unfair and not a decent thing by any stretch of the imagination, and that it will cause huge hardship to many families who are already living on the poverty line? The Tánaiste should bear in mind that these figures are borne out by the recent CSO surveys, which show that real household income is falling and that one in eight children are living in extreme poverty in this country today.

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