Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

There was a long debate on this issue on Committee Stage during which I outlined clearly that the Bill does not deal with water charges, nor is it a vehicle to introduce charges at some later date. Water charges are provided for separately under other primary legislation, namely, the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1997, which precludes charges for domestic water services. Even if the Government wanted to introduce provisions purporting to change these existing arrangements, it is impossible to do so by regulation and recent case law attests to this. I reassure Senator Bannon and all Senators in this House that the proposed legislation is not a mechanism to introduce water charges by regulation in the future and such charges are not part of the Government's agenda. The proposed amendments are therefore unnecessary.