Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The last issue relates to a point Deputy Cowen made about people sitting on their hands. For the past three years, we have not been sitting on our hands. We have been out doing the backbreaking work of organising and building the anti-water charges campaign. It did not simply spring out of nowhere. There were local meetings throughout the country. They were well attended and a campaign was built up advocating the boycott, which most of the other parties in the Dáil would not advocate, but it has proven to be absolutely instrumental. That is what has brought us to this point. It has nothing to do with sitting on our hands. What we are doing now is representing that movement and the 73% of people who have opted not to pay.

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