by Alan Jacques
COMMUNITIES and individuals across County Limerick have been paying for water for generations with absolutely no help from any government.
That’s the view of Limerick Fine Gael TD Patrick O’Donovan who responded to a call from Sinn Fein councillor Maurice Quinlivan for Fine Gael and Labour Party TDs in Limerick to state their position on the possibility of the government enacting legislation that would allow unpaid water charges to be deducted from people’s wages and social welfare payments.
“This government has, for the first time, introduced a grants scheme that people of all backgrounds will be able to avail of. This will see people with septic tanks and wells being able to apply for a €100 grant towards the cost of their water, together with those on group water schemes who also pay for their water,” Deputy O’Donovan explained.
The Fine Gael politician said he was “shocked” that Sinn Fein have decided to attack the decision to give this €100 grant, and their decision to oppose it sends a very clear message to rural communities.
“I presume their decision to oppose the €100 grant is on the basis that they are in Government in Northern Ireland and have no proposals to assist people there with septic tanks and wells,” he commented.
Deputy O’Donovan also stated that small businesses have also been paying for water for years.
“It is clear that under Sinn Fein’s proposals they want people who already pay commercial rates to take on the burden of paying the entire cost of water. They have also suggested a wealth tax to fill in the black hole in their budget. In Limerick this could very quickly clearly result in the introduction of a land tax, something which would cripple farmers and the agri-food industry, something which I would be totally opposed to,” he concluded.
