Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

I regret the weather has not been kind to the party, but it is appropriate we revisit this and have a look at the advice the Minister gave to this House when he said it was unconstitutional to ban corporate donations. In fairness, we have heard certain rebuttals from different Ministers who have said they will do what they like at the moment because the legislation has not changed. That is for another day.

Can the Deputy Leader arrange a debate on the Croke Park agreement? I noted with interest comments from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform yesterday, and over recent months a divide appears to have formed between the Fine Gael Party and the Labour Party on where they stand on this issue. The Croke Park agreement is an arrangement in which we firmly believe. It was castigated by the Government parties when they were in opposition. It should be given time to allow those savings come through. The message being sent out by the Government is that everything is on the table. I heard the chairperson of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party say on radio this morning that increments are up for grabs and that parts of the Croke Park agreement will be torn up. I also heard Deputy Peadar Tóibín from Sinn Féin say this morning saying that his party does not support the agreement. That was a departure. Our Sinn Féin colleagues might have to answer for that.

It is important we provide time to discuss the Croke Park agreement, to look at the savings that have been made within the agreement, to look at other work that can and should be done, and to review it properly in this House so that we can figure out where changes and additional savings need to be made. We should do this properly. People are working hard to try to change how they work with fewer resources. It would be a worthwhile debate.

Yesterday, my party leader, Deputy Martin, my colleague, Councillor Eoghan O'Brien, and I were canvassing in Malahide on the European treaty. Much work needs to be done to get this treaty passed. I welcome the fact the Government is issuing information notes to every household. I would appeal to all parties advocating a "Yes" vote to ensure we knock on as many doors as possible and as early as possible. We should take down the queries now. We have six weeks to the referendum and this will not be a long time coming. I got a sense yesterday evening that other matters such as water charges, household taxes and so on are coming into the mix. We need to divorce our views on them from the matter of the treaty itself and what we in Fianna Fáil see as its importance for this country. Much work needs to be done on this.

Has any work been done on the scheduling of business in the Seanad in the run-up to the referendum to allow Senators participate fully in the campaign itself, regardless of whether they are for or against the treaty? I ask the Deputy Leader to look at the schedule.

The other main issue raised yesterday with me and my party leader was water charges, and the confusion around it. I will once again move an amendment to the Order of Business this morning to call on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come to this House to explain how much people are going to pay, what the free allowance of water will be, who will pay for the meters and how they will be paid for. As a few people in Seabury, Malahide, said to me last night, we did not pay for a gas meter or an ESB meter, so why should we pay for a water meter?