Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Where I am is that I think this should have been handled in a better way. We have an arbitrary cut-off date for the grant. The first thing the Minister could do would be to get his colleague and party leader, the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, to say that it is not too late to register to be eligible for the grant. That is the first thing she could do.

When the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, was here last night, I made it clear that I welcome one element of all of this, which is that people who were paying general taxation and motor taxation were getting the half-benefit or no benefit from the public expenditure on water and sewerage services. I have been saying that for years. Unlike some Deputies in the House, I do not have, nor have I ever had, a principled objection to water charges. I have suffered personally from having to operate a well for years. If we had a continuation of the same Minister in the House dealing with the Bill, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, would have known that I said all this last night, but I will repeat it for his benefit. I said last night that I and all my neighbours with wells used to end up changing washing machines and dishwashers every few years because they used to get corroded from the type of water in our area. We were still paying all the taxation that was funding all the water and sewerage systems of the country.

There is fairness. I remember the arguments we had with the former Minister and now Commissioner, Commissioner Hogan, on the famous Water Services (No. 2) Bill on septic tanks. I always maintained that it was during that Bill that he said there would not be charges for water out, but he suddenly realised that all hell would break loose if people who got two services were paying the same amount as people who got only one service or no service. I believe that part of this Bill is fair.

However, the Minister could do a considerable amount to improve the Bill and make it fairer.

First, he could get rid of the arbitrary decision made by the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection that if one registers now or in a week's time, one will not receive the grant. That is unnecessary and stupid. Second, he should give a very clear directive that, rather than saying a never-never pay bill which does not solve the problem for those who are out of cash, there will be funding made available and a directive given to community welfare officers to the effect that, where they think water charges are putting a burden on household which cannot be carried, they will have discretion to make an exceptional needs payment. Third, there are people who are being foolishly advised not to register and not to pay. This vulnerable section of the community, many of whom are highly concentrated in local authority housing estates, will, I presume, wind up with fines for not registering. They will lose the €100 grant and receive a full bill. The State is patient and in two or three years time the Minister will send a summons and seek an attachment of earnings order in court. That is the game; that is the way it works. At that stage, those who have told them not to register will not be outside the court or standing before them - most will not go to court because very few people like going to court - writing cheques for them and apologising, saying it was their bad advice that had cost them this huge sum of money.

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