Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

To follow up on the issues raised by Senator Coffey regarding water, while listening to "Morning Ireland" at 7 a.m., I was reminded of a very famous and popular song called "Ebb Tide" by Mr. Carl Sigman, sung most famously by Mr. Frank Sinatra. The song refers to the ebb tide of water and one could apply the analogy to the ebb and tide of politics. It struck me that many people were exercised very much by the ebb and tide of politics, whatever their direction and whatever the party to which they belonged, if any. If one replays the commentary on the radio this morning or reads the coverage in the national press today, one will note that there is much debate about the Attorney General's legal opinion. That is all it is - a legal opinion - and it has never been tested. It is untested by the courts. That is always worth saying about any legal advice, particularly that of the Attorney General.

I am very conscious of the water services directive and the penalties to which Senator Coffey referred. It is clear that there is dilemma, particularly for Fianna Fáil. Understandably, that party does not want to find itself in a situation where it is seen to be facilitating the reintroduction of water charges. That is a political call that Fianna Fáil alone can make but it is my view that it would be blatantly irresponsible to oppose the imposition of a penalty on people who waste such a valuable resource. On my first day in Seanad Éireann I said that I am not against a charge for irresponsible waste and abuse of the rich resource that is water. We must address that issue.

I wish to refer to a statement by the Government Chief Whip and Minister of State, Deputy Regina Doherty, on Sunday last. She spoke about how Members of these Houses must work and referred to the need for consensus. Members might say that is all very well and while I am not trying to promote the Minister of State or the Government, she did strike a note in terms of consensus politics. We must find consensus. The politics of the numbers in these Houses has been given to us by the people and within those confines we have to govern and introduce legislation.

I will wrap up by saying that it is very important that we have a fair and generous free water allowance but that anyone who is irresponsible and does not respect that resource must be penalised. I would also like to discuss with the Minister issues such as rainwater harvesting, installing storm water attenuation tanks on farms and domestic premises in order to save water and so forth. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to the House following the publication of the Oireachtas committee's report. I also ask the Leader to convey to the Minister my view that he should lead an all-party delegation to the European Commission to determine the issues and the possible penalties involved.