David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. Water charges are not something new as a subject for political discourse or debate. It is not a subject that fell into the lap of the Government as part of the discussions between Fine Gael and the Labour Party. The previous Government signed up to the national recovery plan for the period 2011 to 2015 which envisaged the introduction of water charges. The Government is adopting and implementing these policies with the support of the troika.

The context is very important. People in this state are now paying more taxes than ever before. Over the course of the past five budgets they have been hit with pay cuts and more taxes, both direct and indirect. They have seen their income cut through pay cuts, especially those in the public and private sectors. The universal social charge has had a big impact on many families. At the time the Minister of State's party said it was a bad idea, but the charge was not reversed. In fact, a raft of new charges were placed on top of the universal social charge. The property tax has now been introduced and people are being asked to pay, on average, between ¤300 and ¤500. As if that is not enough, the Government is introducing water charges for householders. I do not think it understands how difficult it is for many families to pay all of these bills.

We are moving to a very cumbersome and bureaucratic system in how services are to be funded. It is also a very right-wing way, an aspect I will deal with. Everything is to be paid separately and ability to pay is not being considered, nor is social solidarity. It is a case of pay as you go and pay as you use. This is Margaret Thatcher's policy being delivered by the two Government parties. On top of water charges, people will also pay separately for school books and school transport and for their waste to be collected. They are being asked to pay a property tax. If everything else is being paid for separately, what is this for? They are paying more in income tax than ever before, but they are being told that the money raised is no longer to be used to pay for water or local government services which must be paid for separately. The Government is under-estimating the strength of opposition to the family home tax and water charges. This is a matter it will need to consider.

Senator Terry Brennan made the point that the fairest way to charge for water was on the basis of water usage. Let us test that theory. Is it fair that a big family on a low income must pay the same amount as a small family on a high income for using the same amount of water? I do not believe it is. Water is a precious commodity, the provision of which should be funded through general taxation. People should not be asked to pay on the basis of what they use. When one follows the logic of that argument, wealthy people will pay exactly the same amount as everybody else for all of these services. A reduction in income tax for the wealthy means they will not pay what they should be paying and we all end up paying the same amount as wealthy individuals, even though the Government has not asked any of them to pay his or her fair share. The Government parties will be back on the doorsteps at the next general election and I am sure these issues will ring very loudly in their ears when they knock on doors and have to explain why that is the case. We know that the hook on which the Government wishes to hang the charge is conservation, of which I am in favour as water is a precious commodity.

Education must play a significant part. We must ensure resources are provided to ensure people use water adequately. If the Government is serious about water conservation, it should invest the money it will spend on water meters to fix some of the problems in the mains system.