Finian McGrath will get water charges back, says Fitzmaurice

Independent Alliance TD Michael Fitzmaurice says his colleague Finian McGrath should pay his water charges "because he'll get it back in about nine months."

“If it were me I would be paying it. If he pays it in the next 10 days he will get it back ...” he said.

“In a new Government there are a lot of problems, they don’t need distractions. People in some parts of the world who were terrorists are now Cabinet members. Water is minuscule compared to that.”

Former minister for the environment Alan Kelly earlier this week said Mr McGrath, a super junior minister, should consider his position in the Cabinet for not paying the charges as it was against the law.

"The idea that Fine Gael can sit down one week in a government with the Labour Party and people who pay their bills, and now can sit down with people who do not pay their bills is not credible," he said.

Mr Fitzmaurice was participating in a discussion on RTÉ Morning Ireland about water charges and the number of TDs who have paid. The broadcaster contacted 106 of the 158 TDs in the current Dáil and found that two other Cabinet members have not paid water charges.

Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys is on a private scheme and Minister for Children Katherine Zappone has a well.

Two of the members of the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy and Stephen Donnelly, have not paid their water charges. Other TDs who have not paid are members of the Anti-Austerity Alliance, People Before Profit, United Left and Sinn Féin. A number of TDs said they had tried to pay but had not been billed by Irish Water.

Mr Fitzmaurice is a member of a group scheme and said he had been paying for his water for 30 years.

"There are people who genuinely tried to pay, but they couldn't because of incompetence. My understanding is that John Halligan never even got a bill.," he said.

He said he was neither open nor closed to participating in Government and would not make any decision “until the turf cutters are looked after”.

“I am a constructive politician. What’s good I will support and what’s not good I will highlight,” he said.