Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is unbelievable to think that almost six months into the current Government we are still debating this issue. Once again the political system and its ruling elite continue to blatantly ignore the fact that ordinary people are absolutely opposed to the introduction of water charges and that they intend to fight them to the very end. It is not good enough for Fianna Fáil to come into the House today to abstain or vote against this motion. There is absolutely no reason why water charges have not been abolished before now other than by political game playing and attempts by Fianna Fáil to capture the issue for its own selfish motives.

The bottom line is that Fianna Fáil want to get as much political capital out of this issue as possible. Its sly approach to the issue is there for all to see. For example, on the 13 September its submission to the expert commission backed the abolition of water charges. However, on 19 September the party announced it will not back the Sinn Féin motion to scrap water charges. By 21 September Fianna Fáil said it would not rule out supporting the reintroduction of domestic water charges. This series of dizzying U-turns is classic Fianna Fail politicking - say everything but do nothing and all at the same time. The fact is that Fianna Fáil does not have a position on water charges and it is playing to all sides on the issue. It acknowledged as much in its submission to the commission, which the party described as not its permanent position. All of this floundering back and forth also shows that Fianna Fáil has no clear policy position on this issue and that the function of policy is, above all else, to gain party political advantage at the expense of everything else. Questions to do with what type of society we want, issues of inequality, public service provision, etc., are all subordinate to the task of getting Fianna Fáil back into power. Surely this is straight out of the Haughey-Bertie Ahern school of politics, where Deputy Micheál Martin learned his craft.

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