Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis has said that Minister Simon Coveney must legislate on the basis of the Oireachtas Water Committee report to abolish domestic water charges for good.

Speaking today, Deputy Ellis said:

“The Oireachtas Water Committee report has laid out the pathway for the abolition of water charges. It is now up to Minister to accept this as he said he would. If the Minister does not accept the report, he is going against the majority, not only on the committee, but of the Dáil. It is also against the will of the hundreds of thousands of citizens who marched for abolition of domestic water charges.

“In the report, domestic water charges are gone, charges for excessive use of water are gone, as is metering. Importantly, there is a provision for a referendum on the public ownership of water; this is what the people want and it is what the government should legislate for. If the Minister is in doubt and will not legislate on the basis of the report, he should look on this Saturday and to the thousands who will be marching in demand that the Government do what they should have done when the Government was formed and domestic abolish water charges.”