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

The Government and its predecessor never learned their lesson. Irish Water and water charges are to all intents and purposes dead in the water. If the Government thinks that by setting up an advisory body and suspending charges it will stop the popular uprising that has seen tens of thousands of people on the streets, it is sadly mistaken. The penny just has not dropped that the Government is on life support due to the opposition to water charges and Irish Water as well as other policies that have inflicted huge hardship on our people. To date, almost €1 billion has been spent on meters and transferring assets to Irish Water with little spent on infrastructure and repairing leaks. A total of €78 million was spent on consultants, legal fees and financial arrangements. Had local authorities received this money instead of being starved of local government funding, many of the serious problems with leaks and contamination would have been sorted out long ago.

Let us get one thing straight once and for all: we have always paid for water. That is what a progressive taxation system is for. It is clear to many people that the plan was ultimately to privatise the service. Anyone familiar with Detroit will know that people are being evicted from their homes over water. Water is a vital service which must and should be kept in public ownership. It is vital to the well-being of all our people. The Right2Water campaign will not go away and will continue to campaign, grow and make life a misery for the Government.

See this speech in context