David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the two main political parties to stop acting the maggot about water charges. It is a complete and utter farce and members of the public are fed up to their back teeth with it. There is a lot of posturing by Fianna Fáil. Let those in that party remember it was they who started the idea of introducing water charges in the first instance. Fine Gael has softened its approach down to charging only for water that is wasted. There is a clear area for agreement, unless Deputy Barry Cowen goes charging in like a bull in a china shop and causing an election. We have to pay for water. What amazes me is that there was no such protest about property tax. Property tax is utterly iniquitous. I do not care if every other country in the EU has it. It is wrong in this country to charge people on their homes. It goes right back to the 19th century when the Land League campaigned against rack-renting. The property tax is rack-renting by another name.