Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be associated with Senator Power’s motion in recognising Palestine. Senator Leyden referred to the great work done by the former Minister, Brian Lenihan senior, at the time. Traditional support for the Palestinian people is deeply ingrained in the Irish people. The former Minister for External Affairs, Frank Aiken, spent a significant amount of time in the United Nations in the 1950s and 1960s raising the plight of the Palestinian people. The Fianna Fáil Party has a proud tradition in this and Senator Power is upholding and following it. We are glad to have cross-party support for her motion, which represents the support of the Irish people.
Matt Cooper has a fabulous article in today’s Irish Daily Mail, which should be required reading. He asks are we brave enough to pull the plug on Irish Water. Is the Government and every other party brave enough to say a mistake was made that should never have happened? Are we brave enough to admit there will be a cost if we pull the plug but it would be far better to do so?
The feedback I am getting is that there is no confidence in Irish Water. I might go so far as to say people hate Irish Water as an entity, they do not want to pay the charges and they are disgusted by the bonuses. I believe the Government will think about this again because it realises a serious mistake was made. A campaign of civil disobedience is going on with people refusing to provide their PPS numbers and return their packs to Irish Water. I support those efforts by the majority of the public. I do not believe the Government will be able to enforce water charges at this stage. Senators opposite should tell the Government this and what is really happening on the ground. It is not enough to throw somebody under a bus. As a journalist said to me yesterday, the message from the Government is it has had to stop doing this because it cannot just keep throwing people under buses. I second Senator Marie-Louise O’Donnell’s amendment to the Order of Business on this because it is an important issue. I am appealing to Senators on all sides to support it. The public is discussing this issue and the Seanad needs to too.