Results 10,601-10,620 of 12,320 for speaker:Paul Murphy

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: I move amendment No. 8:In page 4, line 28, to delete "before, on or".

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: I will speak to amendments Nos. 8 and 9. It is very unfortunate these are the only amendments we are able to debate and that such a restrictive interpretation has been put on Standing Orders. Amendments Nos. 8 and 9, which are linked, propose that the membership of the so-called expert commission, so-called neutral commission, would be subject to a vote in the House. This is absolutely and...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: So the commission is not referenced in the Bill. That was not clear obviously. The commission itself is not referenced in the Bill.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: They are related to the committee referred to in the Bill.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: In that case there is no mention whatsoever of the commission in the Bill. The commission has just been set up without reference to the House.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: In which case, evidently, there should be a vote on it.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: It was an agreement between-----

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: Right, it is all a deal between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Thank you very much.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: It is very useful-----

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: It is very useful if Deputy Cowen could be wound up and continue to give the game away.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: The reality is that they are playing a dirty game with Fine Gael to keep water charges going.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: Let me speak about some of the other members of the commission. We wondered why in the Bill it is referred to as a committee rather than a commission, but we presumed it was a reference to the expert commission. The fact it is not given any democratic legitimacy whatsoever-----

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: We did.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: The key question people will be asking, which is the point of our amendment, is why there is not a reference to the Dáil and why the Dáil does not get a vote on the members of the committee and why we have a committee set up.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: I am speaking to the amendment.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: Let us look at some of the members of the commission.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: Yes.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: You only lost by one vote.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: We have Dr. Xavier Leflaive from the OECD, an agency that has consistently pushed an agenda of user fees. He has written that water pricing can be used to signal scarcity and to create incentives for efficient water use in all sectors, and that social consequences are best addressed through well-designed tariffs and other targeted measures.

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jul 2016)

Paul Murphy: This is the Dáil. It is a platform.