Ms Doyle, MEP:

Political considerations have to be weighed up with all the other arguments and in the long term it will be hard to sustain the defence of our position. At the time the framework water directive was going through the European Parliament, it was still a big political issue for Ireland but that will lessen in time and there will be a greater understanding that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There will be an acceptance that service charges generally comprise a payment for services, as distinct from taxation contributions to the central Exchequer to run the country. I know there are difficulties with refuse collection charges and various other issues – although not in my constituency, I might say – which form part of the same debate.

Ms Doyle, MEP:

My work is done through the European Parliament's environment, public health and consumer affairs committee. My group, the EPP, which is the largest in the Parliament, has 22 members on that committee. The seats on each committee are filled according to the d'Hondt system devised by a Belgian mathematician. The system ensures that relative to the number of seats, or votes in some cases, one gets one's share on each committee. The number of committee seats is very carefully worked out and offered on the d'Hondt system, including for delegations and trips abroad. My group gets most of the seats as it is the largest, while the Socialist group is the second largest, followed by the Liberals. There are six political groupings and one technical group in the European Parliament.