Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not the Minister for Finance, but it is important to point out that we are still in a troika programme. While we are about to exit that programme, we still have significant cuts to public expenditure to make. What we are doing here is making sure we have an adequate water supply into the future. The money people pay for their water will go to Irish Water and not to the Government.

I wish to be very clear about a related issue. Senator Barrett came up with three or four different estimates for the charges, but the one he liked best was €750. I have no doubt that he is one of the best economists in the world and should, like Paul Krugman, be writing for The Irish Times and The New York Times on a daily basis. However, the fact is that those figures never passed my lips. I am saying, definitely and categorically, that the charge will be nowhere near the figure put forward by Senator Barrett.

The second point is that the Commission for Energy Regulation will debate the issue of the charges in a transparent way. There will be a second period of consultation before the charges are finalised. The attempt by Senator Wilson to put words in my mouth by saying that the charge will be €750-----