Independent TD Mattie McGrath has said that the revised programme of water charges which is expected to be announced by the Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly this Wednesday is the last opportunity the Government has to meaningfully address the publics concerns. Deputy McGrath was speaking after leaked details of the new proposals continue to emerge:
“While the reported details of the new charging regime are significantly below those of previous estimates, there is still a real sense that the Government has gone beyond the point of no return on this one.
Irish Water itself and not just the amount people will have to pay, has become the target of significant public ire.
In that sense if the existence of this super quango continues after Wednesdays announcement, which I believe it will, then very little will have changed.
Simply kicking punitive water charges down the road will not work and will be seen as merely a continuation of the Governments attitude of treating the public like fools.
Wednesdays announcement is less about a recognition of people’s inability to pay and far more about trying to defuse a political bomb before it causes catastrophic electoral damage to Fine Gael and Labour.
In the last analysis if the Government cannot get this issue sorted then it needs to step aside. If it does not then the paralysis of discussion on other serious legislative matters will continue to occur as the Government battles to free itself from this self imposed crisis,” concluded Deputy McGrath.
