Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----by the front door or the back door. That is now the emerging view of the Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services, which was set up to produce recommendations on this issue. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, established that process, which is drawing to a conclusion. At the time, the Minister stated he wanted to take the heat out of the water charges debate and let the Oireachtas have its say.

The Government is losing the argument. Yesterday evening, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, intervened in a most inappropriate manner in an attempt to influence the committee's work before it concludes. Essentially, he is trying to shoehorn the committee with exaggerated claims of the supposed illegality of the abolition of water charges. The Minister should stop interfering in the work of this committee immediately. He should adhere to the process he set up and respect the outcome of it. One wonders whether the Minister's new tough guy stance has more to do with the leadership battle within Fine Gael than anything else.

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