Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As a founding member of the Right2Water campaign, I strongly support this Bill, the aim of which is to scrap any prospect of the reintroduction of water charges. I am proud of all those who protested against water charges in every town and city across the country in a magnificent display of people power. Residents who stood against the installation of water meters and in front of diggers and JCBs were real leaders in their communities. Time and time again, thousands of ordinary people from all walks of life brought the centre of our capital city, Dublin, to a standstill. People power won a magnificent victory. At the time, I wrote about and spelled out the nature of that victory, which was that people power had defeated the introduction of water charges, secured an amnesty for all those who refused to pay this unfair double taxation, got a refund for all those who had paid due to fear, stopped the continued metering of existing dwellings and got increased allowances for those on group water schemes. I went on, though, to warn that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Green Party could not be trusted. I stated:

Payment for excessive use to Irish Water Ltd. commodifies water. This facilitates the phasing back in of water charges over time. Government can reduce the free allowance thus making increasing amounts of water chargeable. This may also be used to prevent the holding of the anti-privatisation referendum or to change the wording as new private suppliers of water are entitled to enter the market under EU Competition Law. This was facilitated by [Fianna Fáil] agreeing with [Fine Gael] that the abolition of Irish Water [would not be within] the terms of reference of the Oireachtas Committee.

Recent reports that the Government is working in the background to reintroduce water charges by the back door, and the failure to hold the anti-privatisation referendum, prove the point. I thank former Deputy Joan Collins, in particular, for her tenacious pursuit of the anti-privatisation referendum. She was blocked at every hand's turn by successive Governments and now we know why.

The Government wants the option of privatising water and reintroducing water charges. Water is a human right and any attempt to reintroduce water charges will be met with opposition not just here in Leinster House but with a massive show of people power in every village, town and city in this country. I say to the Government to bí ullamh; ní neart go cur le chéile.

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