Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like most people, I visit the shopping centre at weekends and try my best to buy what I need within my budget. Like many other parents, I put extra items in my shopping trolley for my children, all of whom are in negative equity on their homes. I see people stacking trolleys full with drink and wine. I guarantee that some of them should not be doing this.

A family with two children will have their water bill capped at €260 and be eligible to apply for a conservation grant of €100. This means that they will pay €3.07 per week to have clean water in which to shower, wash vegetables, bathe children or fill a baby's bottle. Is that not value for money for those who can afford to stack their trolleys with beer and other items, including water, every weekend?

Water is a precious gift. Two weeks ago I met a man who was on holidays here. He told me that one of the greatest pleasures he experienced on his visits to Ireland was being able to turn on the tap at his sister's house and pour himself a glass of water.

Deputies have raised the case of old age pensioners who must pay €60 per annum in water charges. My sister pays her local property tax and water and waste charges from the basic old age pension, which is her only income. She told me recently that her annual water bill of €60 would amounts to only €1.15 per week. When I see people queueing up in a shop to buy 60 or 80 cigarettes at €10 per pack, I must ask for fairness and balance.

I commend the Minister for the Bill, which is an important step. While many people cannot afford to pay bills, the Government has provided payment options for water and waste charges and the property tax. The post office can be used for this purpose. Most of our parents paid weekly to get by and things have not changed in that regard for many in the past 20 or 30 years. Money is the same.

I will raise one other issue that galls me. This week protestors outside Leinster House attacked civil society when they threw cones and missiles at people who were trying to uphold the law. Having served with them on Dublin City Council, I am sure Deputies Dessie Ellis and Aengus Ó Snodaigh will remember a certain Deputy going door to door telling people not to pay waste charges. The Deputy in question still holds a weekly protest on Davitt Road at which protestors leave bags of waste for the residents of Bulfin Road to clean up. I remind the House that the poor people who did not pay the waste charge ended up having to pay €1,700. I met many of them during the local elections campaign and they told me they would never again listen to the Deputy and his colleagues. They were told not to pay waste charges because they would be scrapped.

Deputies should view the images of poor people in Greece crying because they cannot withdraw money from ATMs. For those who seek fairness and balance, the Bill is a step in the right direction. I apologise again, a Cheann Comhairle, for straying a little from the Bill.

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