This morning, there were reports in the media of a very shocking survey released by MABS, which is the agency that assists households in debt. The survey confirms what many of us already know, namely, that the average disposable income of people using MABS services is a mere €8.75 per week. That is all they have left after they pay the rent or mortgage and bills and pay for food and basic necessities for themselves and their children. There is no recovery for these families. Hundreds of thousands of families in work and out - those on low and middle incomes - are still struggling to survive. There is no virtuous economic cycle for them. In fact, they are at their wits' end and simply have no more to give. The MABS report confirms that the imposition of the property tax along with water charges will push many of these families over the edge. The Tánaiste knows this. She knows that these families are at breaking point yet she insists on pushing ahead with water charges.

My question to the Tánaiste is very simple. How does she expect or recommend to these families that they pay €500 or more per year for their water? What household essentials does she advise them to cut back on? What does she think these families ought to go without? I am sure the MABS report makes very sobering and startling reading for all of us and confirms yet again how wrong-headed and unfair this Government's approach has been, particularly in taxing the family home and now with the imposition of a tax on domestic water.

On Monday evening at the end of the Labour Party away day, I went to a MABS office that was not too far from where the away day was held. I spent something like two hours sitting down with the ten staff in that office to discuss the kind of cases that feature in the report. What the Deputy may not know and what Sinn Féin probably does not know is that the Department of Social Protection allocates a budget of €47 million per year to the CIB and MABS. That is significant in the current circumstances. It allocates it precisely because we want and I want a service for families who find it difficult for a number of reasons to manage budgets and families and individuals who end up with severe debts. The Deputy probably knows that credit was relatively easily available from some credit unions and, unfortunately, there are people who have legacy debt issues of the kind that we all know about.

I regularly talk to people in MABS offices. As recently as Tuesday evening, I spent nearly two hours in the MABS office talking to the staff - the money advisers - and getting their take on where things are at the moment because they are the people dealing with the cases. What they told me was very clear, that things are improving - I do not think they are improving quickly enough - which is why today's figures are so positive in terms of growth. This growth is not fuelled by a credit bubble because this is one of the reasons why MABS has so many people. Last year, it answered about 25,000 telephone inquiries and there was a similar number of case callers to the MABS offices. Some Sinn Féin Deputies would know about it. Deputy Ellis would know about the very detailed work the MABS office does for people in Finglas to help people rebuild their budgets and get into things like the household budgeting system so that debt is not a problem. Things are improving. The report to which the Deputy referred relates to 2013. We have already seen from the CSO that the figures have improved.

The single best thing I can do for people calling to the MABS service and their families and communities is to help them get back to work. This is what I have been doing. Today's report about growth in the economy really helps those families because it is not fuelled by a credit bubble as was the last growth period which got many of those families into debt. Instead, it is fuelled by actual output, selling our goods in Ireland and abroad and in particular, growing employment and businesses.

I welcome the MABS report which provides good information in the run-up to the budget. I will ensure the members of the Economic Management Council and the other members of the Government will read it. I hope all Oireachtas Members will take the time to read it in detail.

That was a lengthy response in which the Tánaiste managed not to answer the question.

No substance.

It was detailed.

I do not know how anybody on either side of the House could welcome a report or data that reflect people living at this level of economic distress or in poverty. I am sure we are all agreed that we do not want any citizen to live in poverty, yet that is the reality for many families across the State. It is perverse for the Tánaiste to suggest the introduction of another tax on something as fundamental and basic as water is somehow an assistance to these families.

A question, please.

In Deputy Dessie Ellis's constituency in Finglas or my constituency in Cabra or every area across the State where families are struggling, it is not helpful to charge for domestic water, yet that is what the Government proposes to do. It is not that long ago when the Labour Party had a conscience and a stand on this issue.

Will the Deputy, please, put her question?

The party believed once upon a time that is was wrong to charge families for water.

How much are they charged in Northern Ireland? What is the rate?

There are no charges.

Everything up there is free.

The Tánaiste has come a very long way from that. I repeat the question. There is a considerable waiting list for MABS. On behalf of the Labour Party and the Government, will the Tánaiste advise on how they will pay this bill? How does somebody with such a low disposable income make this payment?

I know Deputy Dessie Ellis knows about the MABS services and I referenced him because I am aware of the work that goes on in Finglas. I am also very familiar with the work that happens in the Cabra area. I am not sure if Deputy Mary Lou McDonald is, but I certainly am.

I have maintained the money the Government spends on providing this service because it is a vital support-----

I asked about water charges.

I will get to it. MABS provides an important service for people who get into difficulty with debt

Agreed.

Would the Deputy mind just listening?

If she wants to declaim, I will stop while she does.

I would like an answer to the question.

There is a time limit on Leaders' Question and the Tánaiste's time is up.

I thought the Deputy had something interesting to say. I welcome all of the reports from MABS because they provide important information for people like me, as Minister, and, I hope, people such as the Deputy, as a senior Opposition spokesperson, in formulating policy that helps people who have debt difficulties not just now but continuously through the years as they manage money. MABS places people in a structure that helps, but the Deputy denies this. I know this service, as does the man sitting beside her.

We are over time.

Why in Northern Ireland has Sinn Féin an average household charge of almost €1,000? What the Deputy is saying is really a bit of cant because her party in government in the North imposes significantly higher charges on householders, whether they are rich or poor.