Results 4,981-5,000 of 5,732 for speaker:Fidelma Healy Eames

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I am not.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: The amendment will be pressed.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I had my hand up. The Chair allowed the Minister of State in to speak before me. I did not mind that but I just want an opportunity to clarify it-----

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: We are getting there. This example shows that the State will be down €40 for every such customer.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: That is probably the best news to be given to the country all day.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Here we have an example of a €160 flat charge. There is €100 going back to the customer in the water conservation grant from the Department of Social Protection, or, essentially, the Exchequer. It is appalling that it is coming out of Exchequer funding. It is coming out of funding for hospitals, schools, roads and everything else. It should come from Irish Water but the...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It has much to do with it.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It does. I will continue. We are talking about a charge of €160, less the €100 from the State. Now, the customer can think of the bottom line. At the end of the first year, the water will cost the person €60. The meter has been installed and the customer could establish that even based on the meter reading, the volume of water would really only cost €60, so he...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Yes.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Absolutely.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I welcome that the Minister is still here. I oppose this section because I fundamentally believe in social justice. That is the reason I joined Fine Gael. Like Senator Barrett I believe in a just society and so on. I also believed that the Labour Party believed in equality. Let us call a spade a spade. Society is not a level playing field. It never was and it never will be. We are not...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Yes, but each of us should pay according to our means.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: These measures disregard people's ability to pay. I received an e-mail from the parents of an autistic boy who needs four baths each day because he has chronic eczema. The family in question has a much greater need for water than most other people. How will they be able to afford their water bill?

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: The cap will not remain in place forever. I was contacted today by a woman who cannot access free legal aid to enable her to take a case involving domestic violence to court because there is a ten-month waiting list. She is trying to obtain maintenance payments and it costs her €400 to pay her solicitor's costs every time she goes before the court. She is now broke because she has...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: That is the outcome politically.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I have made my point. The rest of us must realise what we are doing because that would not be the right outcome. I reiterate my position that I will oppose the section because it is unfair and fundamentally disregards the concept of ability or inability to pay.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I am not concerned about those who will not pay but those who cannot pay. Is there a provision for a means-test so they can prove they cannot pay? Will there be a facility for community welfare officers to assist those who cannot pay? Simply, one cannot get blood from a stone. There are many people in tough situations with debt. We have moved on from that debate about the numbers with...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: To be helpful, I welcome what the Minister said about supports for people who cannot pay. The Minister has put on the record that there will be supports available through the community welfare officer. It is critical that the Bill will be poverty-proofed. Has the Minister tied that in with social protection and has the Minister for Social Protection agreed with that, or is the Minister at...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I move amendment No. 19: In page 7, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:“(2) Within 6 months the Minister shall prepare and publish a Report to both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining how the conservation grant scheme is being implemented and detailing how the scheme is contributing towards bringing the network up to the standard to meet metric tests established by the...