Two Clare TDs have accused each other of being dishonest with the public in a row involving water charges.
It’s after a Sinn Féin bill calling for a permanent legislative ban on water charges was defeated in the Dáil.
“The Government isn’t just ignoring the will of the people, they’re trying to reach into your pocket to do it!” These are the exact words of Shannon Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan’s social media post after her party’s bill was defeated.
The post, which included a graphic of Clare TD’s Joe Cooney, Cathal Crowe and Minister Timmy Dooley said “Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents were allowing for water charges to be introduced.”
Deputy Crowe says the legislation made “zero sense” and has accused Deputy McGettigan of creating anxiety for vulnerable members of the public with the suggestion of water charges, which he insists will not be introduced.
Central to the debate was a plan progressed by the previous coalition to implement excessive use charges.
Here a household of four would face a charge of €1.80 for every 1,000 litres used above an annual limit of 213,000 litres, which is almost double the amount used by the average Irish household every year (125,000 ltrs).
These plans never came to pass, but were included in the Ministerial Briefing for the hand over to now Housing Minister James Brown who stated he was “not giving consideration to such charges at this time”.
Deputy McGettigan is questioning why the Government didn’t vote to put the matter to bed for good.
In 2016, Fianna Fáil’s general election manifesto wanted to see Uisce Eireann abolished, while the current programme for Government includes no provision for water charges of any kind.
You can listen to the full interview here:
