Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too congratulate the people who came out in their thousands in the past year and a half. Over 1 million people in seven major demonstrations walked shoulder to shoulder with the Right2Water movement which changed the face of politics in this country. After years of austerity, the straw that broke the backs of the people was water, Irish Water and the potential privatisation of a natural resource to meet a human need. Today we are inching closer to the abolition of Irish Water and water charges. I agree that Fine Gael and the Labour Party had a mandate when they introduced the hated water charges and the Irish Water structure; it is in their faces that they did not receive a mandate in the recent general election to continue that policy. Their austerity policies were rejected. Fianna Fáil received support and extra seats because it decided to rob the overcoat of the progressive left in this Dáil and put out the message that it would abolish water charges and Irish Water. However, neither Fine Gael nor Fianna Fáil can stand up to its backbenchers and say it is carrying out its mandate or what was in its manifesto. Therefore, the issue must be taken off the negotiating table. They should agree what they want to agree regarding a minority Government and the other issues on which they can agree, but they must bring this issue back to the Dáil, either through a vote on the motion tabled by 39 Deputies or by agreeing to a minority Government and then allowing this debate to happen in the Dáil. Then the 90 or so Deputies who have been given a mandate to scrap Irish Water and water charges will have the opportunity to have a real debate on the issue.

We need water conservation and a proper retrofit of our homes to reduce leakages to the recommended amount. If there was only clean water coming through our taps and it was not being flushed down our toilets, how many litres of water would be saved each day? The implementation of such measures is important. It is vital that a national water and sanitation board be set up but along the lines of the National Transportation Authority.

See this speech in context