Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo ghlór a chur leis na daoine atá ag tabhairt ómóis don dream bocht a fuair bás sa tine tragóideach i gCluain Dolcáin inné. I add my name to the tributes that have been paid to those that perished in the tragic fire in Clondalkin. Our hearts go out to them and to all their families and friends. It was a tragic event.

I wish to propose an amendment to the Order of Business. I understand that there is a motion to be taken without debate on the extension of the deadline of the work of the Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services. I would like to debate that for a number of reasons and I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that we debate that issue. It is important that we take stock at this stage of where we are with water charges, but the extension of the committee's deadline is unnecessary. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voting together in the committee is a clear attempt to buy more time to reach a backroom deal on this issue. They are unable to make a decision between them even though they have a confidence and supply arrangement and even though a majority of people elected to the Dáil were elected on a right to water front and were opposed to water charges. The can is being kicked down the road once more. We in Sinn Féin have no objection to the taking of legal advice, but the fact of the matter is that the legal opinions heard to date all seem to be different.

The committee could and should have met its original deadline. We will not have a report until April now, with the Oireachtas due to vote on the issue in May. We are still debating the issue of domestic water charges in these Chambers one year after the formation of the Government and almost 15 months after the Thirty-second Dáil was elected. This issue should have been put to bed at the beginning of this Dáil term. We are again seeing Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael obfuscating the issue. The committee does not need another month. We need to make a decision on this matter and to put it to a vote once and for all. It is important that we get a chance to debate the issue in this Chamber as well, to see where the majority of Senators stand on the issue. I propose the amendment to the Order of Business that the motion on the work of the Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services be taken with debate.