Right2Water to address water committee despite FG objections

Representatives of an anti-water charge protest group are to give evidence to the Oireachtas committee examining the approach the State should take to paying for water in the future.

Committee members spent an hour and a half debating whether it was appropriate for Right2Water to appear before it.

A vote was held and all members - bar the six from Fine Gael - voted in favour.

Fine Gael objected to the invitation being issued on the basis that the committee was established to hear from experts.

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However, Fianna Fáil voted alongside Labour, the Anti-Austerity Alliance, Sinn Féin and Independents to ensure the group was allowed in.

Fine Gael TD Martin Heydon criticised the decision of Fianna Fail to delay the work of the committee.

He said the committee’s mandate is to hear from experts in the field and reach a consensus.

‘Wielding agendas’

Mr Heydon added: “We do not need interest groups wielding agendas, be it on the pro or anti water charges side of the debate, coming in to tell us what we already know their position to be.

“Fine Gael representatives have been working hard on this Committee to come to a consensus with our Oireachtas colleagues. It is in the public interest that we complete our work in an efficient and timely manner and today’s vote to bring in Right2Water will simply result in time wasting.”

The Right2Water representatives will be invited in next week to give evidence.

The Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services has been hearing submissions on how water services should be paid for it future. It was established after an expert commission compiled a report on the issue and recommended that the bulk of water services be funded from general taxation.

The all-party committee, chaired by Independent Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh, has been given three months to report back to the Oireachtas with its recommendations which will then be voted on in the Dáil next month.