Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim glan i gcoinne an Bhille seo. Is ionsaí mór é i gcoinne an gnáth duine, go háirithe duine ar phá íseal nó ar social welfare.

Sinn Féin opposes this Bill and the people of Ireland have made clear they oppose it, by coming out on the streets in protest in their tens of thousands to say "No" to the unfair and unacceptable burden of water charges. People have gone to jail and protested daily against austerity and these unjust charges. It is clear that many people have paid enough and can pay no more. Although the Government does not admit it, it is ramming through this Bill with the sole intention of killing off the anti-water charges movement, by forcing people to pay and leaving them with no option for resistance.

The reality, however, is that this is a massive victory for the anti-water charges movement, despite presenting a new and considerable challenge. With this Bill, the Government has admitted defeat on a number of fronts. Most starkly, it has utterly failed to bully and scare the people into paying the water charges. It has also failed to dampen down the massive opposition to this Government which has flowed from the water charges protests into a wider anti-austerity movement. Having failed with its bullying tactics, the Government now seeks to force people to pay through the courts. The Government may think this is a victory for it, but it has only managed to damage itself more by its lack of respect for the views of the public. The people have spoken with their feet time and again to show opposition to these water charges. Soon they will vote with ballot papers to send this Government packing and this grubby and underhanded legislation with it.

The Government has been smart enough to set the base level of money owed on which an attachment order can be made at €500, giving it some time to scare people into complying before being faced with having to bring them through a court system that is already under resourced and overworked and which is failing to deal adequately with serious crime as a result. This will buy the Government time, but that is not worth much to it. The small amounts this Bill deals with make clear that the Bill is about railroading and pick pocketing the people who will not pay because they cannot pay.

The Government has a history of taking more from those who have less and that continues in this Bill, while the wealthy elite go untouched and Denis O'Brien gets sweet deals and write-downs.

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