Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

First, I am delighted to support this motion. It is a subject on which Members have been campaigning for a number of years and the Right2Water campaign and the Right2Change movement have created the biggest change ever in this Chamber as a result of the last general election.

The issue relating to water and water charges was a lightning rod for austerity of all kinds. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Everybody felt that the campaign was not only about water but also about austerity in general. It was not about refusing to pay for water because we have always paid for water. It was always about the fact that these domestic charges are an unfair form of double taxation. They were effectively being heaped on ordinary families across the country, devastating many of them. I compliment all of the people associated with that campaign and those who attended the protests. I particularly compliment those who fought Irish Water in their estates, villages and towns. They forced the situation with which we are now faced. There is no doubt that we are on the brink of a major victory with the abolition of these water charges.

I appeal to Fianna Fáil Deputies who talk about new politics and about honouring commitments that were made in the general election. Their amendment is, however, a breach that reneges on the promises and commitments they made in the general election. A majority of Deputies in this Dáil were elected on the basis of the abolition of water charges. That mandate must transfer into an abolition of those charges.

I say "Well done" to all those who turned out during the campaign. These charges must go and Irish Water must also go. We simply cannot allow the privatisation of water. Public ownership of water must be enshrined in the Constitution.

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