Water committee's report 'a victory for anti water charge movement': Murphy
AAA TD for Dublin South West Paul Murphy has said the recommendations made by the water committee are a victory for the anti water charges movement.
However he said he was concerned about indications by Fine Gael, that it might be willing to go against the will of the people and of the committee, and not convert all the recommendations into legislation. He urged people to attend a final protest march in Dublin this Saturday.
Earlier, Mr Coveney denied that Fine Gael's pact with Fianna Fáil obliged a minister to implement legislation, especially if it was against EU laws. Referring to water charges, he said: "I won’t introduce anything that is not legally sound because it could result in Ireland getting tens of millions of euros in fines."
Paul Murphy (pictured) told Today with Sean O'Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1 that there was no legal advice to suggest the committee’s recommendations went against EU law.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government Barry Cowen denied that the party had backtracked on the polluter pays principle.
He said populism was democracy in his book, and added that Fine Gael was "all for democracy when they won and for legal opinion if it suited them".
The Social Protection Minister says he is very confident there will not be a general election over the water issue, saying that is "nonsense" talk.
Leo Varadkar also says the Government isn't bound by the terms of the confidence and supply arrangement - which he says he read again last night.
His comments come as the committee meets later to agree a final report - but Fine Gael says it will vote against it because it is dishonest.
Minister Varadkar says this will not bring down the Government: "The only reason why Fianna Fáil has changed its position and changed its position so many times now, is fear and terror of Sinn Fein and the parties of the extreme left.
"So what we need to do is get away from the politics of this and nonsense and rubbish talk about elections, stand back and ask ourselves, what is the right thing to do for Irish people?
"What is the right thing to do make sure we fund water in a sustainable way.
"What is the fairest thing to do and the best thing to do for the environment and if we start from those principles we will come to a conclusion fairly quickly."
