David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

He is the one who is interrupting. My questions are direct questions to the Minister of State. We are paid to come in here and ask questions of the Minister and this is what I will do because I know people out there want me to do it. They are not interested in interruptions. How is it fair? Why has indirect rather than progressive taxation been used? Why are none of these policies poverty-proofed? There is no point in coming back in two, three or six months time when we have more reports telling us that more people are in poverty because of an indirect tax. Why is that the case? Why has there been no poverty-proofing of this policy because if there was, we would not be introducing it? That is a genuine question.

The Minister of State has not responded to the ESRI report because this budget included the water charges. The ESRI said that the top 40% benefit the most and the bottom 60% do not, so could the Minister of State address that point? That related specifically to water charges which are linked to the poverty measures. The Minister of State has not dealt with the wasteful spending of Irish Water.

It does not matter to me how long we sit here. I would want to be at home like everybody else but it is always the same. When over 100,000 people took to the streets, why are we being asked to rush through on the Friday before Christmas one of the most important Bills to face this Seanad? Yes, there is no guillotine but it is all on one day and then people get cranky. People stand up and make contributions because they all want to get home. Yet we will be asked afterwards "what did you do?" We will be asked what we said to the Minister. We will be asked what questions we asked so I am asking the questions. I have asked them and I will sit down and listen to the Minister of State. I think they are genuine questions about the unfairness of the charge and the regressive nature of it as opposed to progressive taxation. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.