Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

To be clear about what has been going on in the Chamber this morning, we have a name for the chairmanship of the committee, which has been brokered by a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backroom deal. The fact that it would be a Senator chosen by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael queers the pitch with regard to the make-up of the representation by Senators on the committee, reducing it in effect from four to three committee members elected by the Seanad. We have a motion being debated in the House and I suspect a significant number of Deputies are not even aware fully that it is being debated this morning. We also have context because when the Government was establishing the expert commission on water charges it chose a chairman who said that his task was to add a little sugar to help the water charges go down better with the population. Do I withdraw the charge that there was an attempt at a stich-up here and an attempt to pull a sly one? Absolutely not; I call things by their right name and I stand by every word I said.

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