John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is a basic tenet of the left wing. We do not load tax after tax on work. That is nonsense. The Anti-Austerity Alliance, Sinn Féin and the People Before Profit Alliance all say water services should be paid for out of general taxation.

If we remove as many costs from the Exchequer as we can, we will be in a position to do something about reducing and, ultimately, eliminating the unpopular universal social charge. If we continue to heap charge after charge on the Exchequer, there is no way we will be able to replace the €4 billion the people pay through the USC. If we reduce the USC, the benefits that would accrue to the people would vastly outweigh the modest cost they will pay for water. That is my reason for voting for the legislation. Nobody has told me to say that. I am a left wing politician and I arrived at this opinion myself.