Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Right2Water and Right2Change movements brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets right across the State. Ordinary citizens said "Enough is enough". Tonight's motion is part of the Right2Water campaign. It has cross-party support and is signed by 39 Deputies. At the heart of the Right2Water movement is not only opposition to an unfair and unjust tax, but a belief that water is a human right that should be provided on the basis of need rather than on that of people's ability to pay.

As the motion says, a clear majority of Deputies sought and won an electoral mandate to abolish Irish Water and scrap water charges. Our motion relates to the certainty, fairness and abolishing both the unjust charge and Irish Water. It is about following through on election promises. It is not about sidelining the issue, stalling in respect of it or pushing it down the road, it is about ending the charges and the threatening letters. It is also about bringing an end to the employment of consultants, the bonus culture and the waste of scarce financial resources.

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