Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Instead of the Taoiseach allowing the Dáil to decide the issue, he and Teachta Martin kicked the can down the road. In June, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, published the draft terms of reference for the so-called expert commission on water charges. He said he would not expect or accept any amendments to the draft. We then had the debacle surrounding the appointment of the former Senator Joe O'Toole as its chairperson. He took aim at those of us who were part of the campaign to scrap unjust charges and described us as completely and utterly wrong. He went on to say, “People voted a certain way, Leinster House is not prepared to grasp that particular nettle, so we have to find a solution that will have enough sugar on it to make the medicine go down.”

If the Taoiseach and the Fianna Fáil leader had allowed the Oireachtas to deal with the issue, water charges would be long gone.

Last weekend, the comedy of errors continued when the Fianna Fáil leader said he did not envisage a return of water charges, Fine Gael criticised him for doing so and the Fianna Fáil spokesperson, Teachta Barry Cowen, then said something completely different and refused to rule out a return of charges. To top it all, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, declared, without any consultation with the Dáil, that Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh would be appointed Chairman of the yet to be established Oireachtas committee on water. I have nothing against Seanadóir Ó Ceidigh. Tá meas agam air, go háirithe ar an obair ar son chúis na Gaeilge atá déanta aige. However, the issue is that the Minister has no authority to appoint the chairperson of an Oireachtas committee as such appointments are a matter for the Dáil. To intervene, as the Minister did, and to seek to appoint a Chair is a serious departure from normal Oireachtas procedure. Will the Taoiseach indicate whether he agreed this appointment with the Fianna Fáil leader at the meeting they are reported to have held last week? Will he commit to following normal procedure and have the Chair of the committee, once established, decided by its members without interference from the Minister?

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