MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley says he will bring a memo to Government shortly on the introduction of metered water charges.
Mr Gormley said in Carlow yesterday that he would be recommending metering rather than “flat rate charges [which] don’t make sense”.
In Offaly, however, Taoiseach Brian Cowen made no commitment. “We are not making any comment whatever,” he said. “We haven’t even considered the budget . . . so it is very previous to be making any indications from the media that we have made any decisions in those areas.”
Mr Gormley had noted “the Labour Party is saying that they are opposed to water charges” and that “eventually people are going to have to ask the Labour Party: ‘what is it that you actually stand for?’ ”
Mr Gormley said Labour “must have a pain in their rear end” from sitting on the fence.
He added: “It’s just a crazy situation that a party doesn’t say what it actually stands for and is just saying, ‘down with this sort of thing’.” He accused Labour of “coming very close to being the Fr Ted of Irish politics”.