Tipperary Sinn Féin spokesperson Cllr Seamus Morris has welcomed the appointment of Alan Kelly as Minister for the Environment as it gives the Labour minister the chance to repeal some of the right-wing laws and decisions enacted by the previous minister, Phil Hogan.
Cllr Morris said “The Local Property Tax has imposed a burden on struggling households, as has Irish Water and the introduction of water charges. Minister Kelly is now in a perfect position to stop the privatisation of public resources, as well as the privatisation of the water in Lough Derg. Minister Kelly could signal his intent to ease the financial burden on the working person by commencing the repeal of the property tax and water charges.”
Morris continued “I understand that to repeal the legislation would take a considerable amount of time, but his statement of his intent now would give hope to struggling homeowners. Also Minister Kelly could easily choose to not implement the former Minister’s effort to make local authorities the new LEADER groups from 2015, and choose instead to give a commitment to support the already successful community-lead LEADER programmes. This at the very least would show his intent to at least give a nod to labour principles while in government.”