Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá fáilte romhat, a tAire Stáit.

I had a sense that it was Groundhog Day during the debate tonight and in previous debates on the earlier Water Services Bills because the rhetoric was similar. When Members of the Opposition raised concerns and issues about the Bill, the Government replied by saying, "Trust us; there is not going to be an issue with charges." There are huge issues with them. I have monitored the debate all day and have made to contribute when I felt it was important to do so. The crux of the issue concerns when water usage will be metered and when people will be charged. As Senator David Cullinane has said, we oppose the notion of imposing a water tax in the first place, but we sense that the Government will railroad the Bill through in order to introduce charges. Any measure that would delay the process would be welcome; therefore, we support the amendment because it proposes to postpone the charges until "the date of completion of the national water meter installation programme". This is a very important amendment.

The Government has not grasped, from the marches in Dublin and in regional towns, that the people oppose the principle of it charging them for water and the commodification of water. I do not think the issue is how little or how much the Government will charge, a point on which Sinn Féin differs very much with Fianna Fáil. There are other ways of raising revenue to run the water system, rather than imposing a water tax.

Another problem with a water tax is that it is completely regressive and unfair. I am sick to the back teeth listening to some Government representatives say in the national media and in the Houses that it is only €3 per week. Yesterday on Second Stage I relayed the point which had been made by a woman who had telephoned me about the matter. She has nothing to do with and is unconnected to my political party, but she was involved with one of the other parties. She is a single mother and has two teenage daughters. She is in a very difficult position because she is not working and depends on the State to help her to make ends meet. We are in the run-up to Christmas and she has asked me to relay her story. She has asked me to state €3 per week makes a huge difference to her, that it is an awful lot of money in her pocket and is the difference in not putting a meal on her table one day a week.