I agree with Deputy Martin on the medical cards issue, which I have raised with the Taoiseach many times to no avail.

Today, however, I want to ask him about his announcement on the water tax. I noted once again that he had gone to the media with this announcement as opposed to coming into the Dáil to discuss it. Let us be clear: from what we know, this is a water tax. It is Fianna Fáil policy and totally contrary to the stated policy of the Labour Party. It is the latest in a series of taxes the impact of which will be greatest on families on low and middle incomes. These families will have to pay, at the very least, €240 each year. At least 1 million households will be forced to pay this water tax despite having no meter. The parties which support this — Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party — must take full responsibility for the added tax burden that will be placed on struggling households on top of the family home tax, the septic tank charge, the carbon tax, cuts to child benefit and cuts affecting carer's allowance and medical cards.

The media briefings by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, the Taoiseach and the Labour Party could be presented as a modern version of Dean Swift’s A Modest Proposal, but there is nothing modest about the Government's proposal. There is nothing eloquent about its media spin and nothing satirical. The Government is deadly serious. Does Fine Gael believe the people are stupid? Does it believe they do not see what is happening and that they are fooled by the claims it is making? This shows just how far removed the Government is from hard-working families and vulnerable citizens. Whatever about the Labour Party's position, Fine Gael knows this figleaf will not cover the Labour Party's blushes. Is it not the case that the Cabinet's manoeuvring in recent weeks on this issue had nothing to do with relieving the burden on vulnerable citizens or bringing about safe water supplies and all other necessary services? Is it not very clear that this was all about the elections and public anger at the Government's duplicity?

I do not at all accept the Deputy's charge. The Government made a decision on the issue this morning. We were accused by Fianna Fáil of not having the courage to spell out what the average charge would be and the conditions that would apply to lower it for certain sectors. As I stated last week, the Deputy is party to decisions on the water charges people pay in Northern Ireland, but he refuses to acknowledge this. I am not sure whether in the South he is presenting the view that one should pay for nothing and contribute nothing and that all of these services should be provided free of charge.

That is what taxes are for - PRSI, USC-----

I have made it perfectly clear on a number of occasions that this is the last major imposition that the Government will make on the people.

Please, Deputies.

I want Deputy Gerry Adams to understand that in the discussions we have had in recent weeks this issue was taken very seriously and engaged on constructively. The Government has issued a direction to the regulator stipulating that the subvention of €537 million is conditional on the average charge being €240 per year, or €60 per quarter. Taking into account the difficulties, hardship and challenges many people face and which I recognise, there are sectors that clearly require assistance. That assistance is being given in particular circumstances through the household benefit charge and the benefits for carers, those with a disability, those who are blind and so on. It is also taken into account that children obviously bring with them costs and charges in the daily running of a household. The Government has recognised this by providing extra assistance in that children are to be given a 38,000 litre allocation, which effectively makes all children under the age of 18 years free. There is an allowance of an extra €100 in the categories I have mentioned. A pensioner living alone, for example, will have 40% of his or her water needs covered by the free allocation of 30,000 litres. Together with the allocation of €100, this will mean that the pensioner's liability for the year will be approximately €138, or less than 50 cent per day.

It is obvious, although Deputy Gerry Adams does not want to recognise it, that water is a precious and scarce enough resource. It must be conserved and used well. It is probably the most abused natural resource in the country. Metering brings with it an incentive to conserve in that one can turn off the tap. In that sense, the Government has tried to make this measure as fair, affordable and incentivised as possible. Thus, people will understand they are in control of it. The allocation of the extra €100 will be to the benefit of pensioners, the elderly and those who receive benefits under the household benefits package. In addition, the Government will make available assistance in exceptional cases, as applies currently in the case of electricity and gas where the need arises.

The intention is to deal with the fact that 40% of water in the system is leaking away, thus costing the taxpayer €1.2 billion per year. We have inferior treatment works and pipework and there are 23,000 people subject to boil water notices. This needs to be dealt with. We have tried to make the contribution as fair and equitable as possible. The price point, by contrast with the figures of €2,000 and €3,000 that had been bandied about, is the lowest we can achieve without having to put the charge back on the Government's books. In that sense, the assistance decided on this morning by the Government, including Fine Gael and the Labour Party, was made available with a view to making the system as fair, equitable and incentivising of conservation as possible.

There is nothing in the Taoiseach's proposal about conserving water. He has not spelled out what he will do in order that people will not have to pay this tax. He should listen to what he is saying. He might as well be standing or sitting as naked as the day he was born, like the emperor thinking no one notices.

The Taoiseach might as well be sitting there thinking people are absolute amadáns.

There is a lot of that going around, too.

A question, please.

Working people, people who will pay the tax, are not laughing today. They do not believe it is funny but that it is very serious. It comes on top of a whole series of punitive taxes and is totally contrary to the Government's election promises. Sinn Féin consistently and resolutely opposed the imposition of a water tax on already hard-pressed families.

Can we hear the Deputy's question, please?

Sinn Féin prevented a water tax in the North. The Taoiseach knows this but continues to mislead the Dáil on the issue.

Will the Deputy ask his supplementary question?

The Taoiseach could have done the same here. He is dishonest in claiming Uisce Éireann can tell householders how much they will pay for water in the next few years. His proposal brings us only to 2016, just in time for the commemoration of the Easter Rising, at which point the tax will increase. The Taoiseach knows this. These charges never decrease; they always increase.

The Deputy should adhere to the Chair.

I am finished. Does all of this not expose the fact that the Government continues, even at this stage, to mislead citizens on the water tax issue in an effort to get through the elections?

The Deputy accused the Government on many occasions in the House of not having the courage to spell out the details of what was involved before the European and local elections. He has been proved wrong in this case. Meters constitute a conservation measure. The Deputy has tried to insinuate in some way that people are amadáns or stupid. I disregard this completely and it is beneath the Deputy to say it.

That is what the Taoiseach believes. They are his words.

It is beneath the Deputy to put words in anybody else's mouth, as he would often say. He can withdraw that remark in respect of everybody in the House. The people are well able to make up their own minds.

They will let the Taoiseach know in due course.

Evidence from many places around the country demonstrates the level of conservation achieved by water metering in households in private group schemes. One can measure the level of conservation. I have been very pleased with the results in saving huge volumes of water.

Regarding people who decide not to pay, this is not fair to all of those people who are hard pressed and who do make a contribution. While water is very necessary for life, fundamentally, people are not going to have their water connection cut off but there will be a case of reduced pressure where people decide not to pay.

They will have a trickle.

A trickle.

What happens in the North?

There are no domestic water charges there.

The time for this question is up.

The Deputy would be the first on his feet saying that we cannot cut them off completely, nor is there any intention to do so. However, if we are to have a contribution from everybody, with assistance for those who are in particular need, the answer to the Deputy's question is that the penalty is reduced pressure.

Any review of the average metered charge is deferred until 2016. The Deputy said that this is running until after the next election. Yes, it is. Far be it from me to determine what the people will want to do with their votes in 2016, when they come to judge this Government on whether it has fulfilled its mandate of sorting out our public finances and getting our country working or not.

The question of a review will be dealt with by whatever Government is elected by the people after the general election in 2016. This Government has taken all of these things into account. As I said, it is the last major issue imposed on the people. It has been known to be coming for quite some time. In so doing, we have taken into account children, the elderly, the vulnerable, the disabled, the blind, those on boil water notices and those who receive benefits through the household package, and there is provision for those where exceptional hardship or exceptional circumstances arise. In that sense, not only will it deal with the inadequacy of the system at the moment, it will provide a platform of provision of high quality, high volume, pristine water for generations to come, which is what it is necessary to do. Governments in the past shirked their responsibility in facing up to that. This Government will not, and it has been as fair and as affordable to the people as possible.

It is another tax.

I call Deputy Catherine Murphy.

Down the road they will privatise it, when all the concessions are gone.

Since when did Deputy Ellis become Deputy Catherine Murphy?

It happened with the bin charges. There were waivers for the first few months and then they privatised it.

If you are not careful, you will be doing your talking outside that door.

I have to respond to what they are saying.

He is being harassed.

I call Deputy Murphy.