Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The common thread running through these amendments is that they are based on the misconception that the Bill either does or should contain provisions on water charges. As this issue arose on several occasions during the Committee Stage debate and again this morning I thought the matter had been comprehensively dealt with. However, I will reiterate the position.

The Bill is primarily designed to regulate the delivery and supervision of water services, to enable operating standards to be set and public health and environment to be protected. It deals literally and metaphorically with the nuts and bolts of water services delivery. Water charges are an integral part of the local government financial matrix and are inextricably linked to the broader issue of public financing. It makes sense, therefore, to provide for them by way of financial provisions legislation.

As I stated earlier, the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1997 precludes the charging of domestic users for water services. This is in line with Government policy. There is no intention on the part of Government to change that scenario. The charging of commercial users for water services is provided for in existing legislation. The Bill does not propose to amend that position. The Minister, during the course of the Second Stage debate, went to great lengths to assure Senators that the Bill would not in any way change the current situation regarding charges. I, too, have given similar assurances. I hope the Senator will accept that the amendments are unnecessary and somewhat inappropriate. If, however, he decides to press the amendments I will be opposing them not for the sake of opposition but for the reasons outlined this morning and on previous occasions.