The imposition of domestic water charges on top of all the other charges the Government has imposed on people is part of an agenda of privatisation shared by Fianna Fáil. The manner in which the company was established and is being managed and in which the unfair water charges have been imposed has been chaotic and farcical and the Taoiseach misses the main point, which is that the vast majority of people cannot pay. It is not that they will not pay; they simply cannot pay. It has emerged that struggling families will be charged €180 for a call-out to fix leaking pipes. The Taoiseach has dismissed that and said he does not know where that came from. I checked before I came to the House that he told me on 7 October no bonus would be paid. The noises from the Government all appear to be about scapegoating the board and senior management team in Irish Water.

No one was clearer about the creation of the company than the former Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd who said: "It's a mess and it's the Government's mess." Will the Taoiseach accept that, as an entity, Uisce Éireann is toxic and that it cannot in its present form be left with the responsibility for the delivery of water services in this State? Does he further accept that Uisce Éireann must be fundamentally and radically reformed into a single public utility that acts in the interest of citizens? Will he acknowledge that the message he got in the by-elections and on the streets of Dublin is that people are against what the Government is doing because they cannot afford what it is calling on them to do? Fianna Fáil is belatedly calling for a suspension of water charges. Does the Taoiseach accept that he can do nothing other than abolish this second domestic water charge? People cannot pay it and his Government should acknowledge that.

I do not share the Deputy's view at all. It is clear in the legislation that this entity cannot be privatised and the Deputy should not go around scaremongering that this is an attempt or the beginning of a process to privatise Uisce Éireann. It is beneath him to say that, given he can read the language clearly in the legislation.

Clearly, the concern about payment is a legitimate concern for everyone and there is a degree of confusion because of the scale of the assistance that is being provided through the tax credit system, the household package and other elements of the social protection system. I remind the Deputy that what we want to do is ensure every household in the country is given a free allowance through the provision of almost €600 million of a subsidy from the Government to Irish Water. This was one of the pillars of direction given by the Government to the regulator that children should be free and there should be an average meter charge of €240 per annum or an assessed charge for two plus two of €278.

The Deputy will be aware that the regulator has indicated that the assessed charge will continue for nine months from the date of billing next year. That means, for instance, if people use more water than that to which the €278 charge applies and their bill is less than that, they will pay the lesser amount. There is an incentive not only to register to avail of the household charge but also to conserve water. That is an essential part of why Irish Water was set up in the first place. We need to invest off balance sheet to provide quality treatment works and quality infrastructure in order that people can have high-quality drinking water and ensure water is available for business and consumers alike.

The matter of people ringing Irish Water or councils and not getting an answer is being considered and dealt with by Irish Water and Ervia. No more than other entities in the past, for example, SUSI and the issue relating to higher education grants and other issues of great concern to people, once they are dealt with and people have answers to their questions, things can calm down.

This is very important for the future of the people and the economy. We have not measured up for the past 40 or 50 years and it is time to deal with it.

The Taoiseach is right that the Government has not measured up.

I accept there are issues that are a cause of concern and we will deal with those clearly, decisively and effectively in order that people can understand what they will get from the payments and contributions they make.

People have the right to water. I know it is not free and has to be paid for. Sinn Féin has shown how it can be paid for.

It has not.

I was at a public meeting last night in Dundalk and I heard speaker after speaker say from the floor that they cannot pay this. They included women with small children, elderly people and people living on their own. They are dealing with the reality that they will get water dependent on their wealth and they will get water if they can set aside some other bill. The Minister for Finance said that the water charges are modest while the Taoiseach also said there is no bonus culture. I do not accept his statement that the company cannot be privatised. On 1 November in every county and in as many towns as possible, there will be demonstrations calling on the Government to scrap these water charges.

A question, please.

I call on people to come out, demonstrate and show the Government that what happened in Dublin recently was not a one-off.

Regardless of what the Taoiseach says about Fianna Fáil, Deputy Doherty spelt out in Sinn Féin's alternative budget how this could be paid for, but all the time the Taoiseach has repeatedly missed the point on this issue. The people have had tax upon tax, charge upon charge, punitive measure upon punitive measure imposed on them and, at the same time, they have had cuts in health services, child benefit, carer's allowance and elderly citizens' entitlements. This is a cut too far and people cannot afford it. I ask the Taoiseach to please accept and acknowledge that and to do something decisive about it. He should stop the imposition of water charges and deal with this as it should be dealt with.

I do not accept at all that Sinn Féin's budget submission measures up to reality. There is a €500 million hole in there-----

There is not.

The Deputy is going around the country telling people in every constituency that the charge for water will be €1,000. That is what he and his people are saying.

We never said that.

They are scaring people.

The charge will be €1,000. Sinn Féin is calling on people not to pay property charges or water charges and telling them it will look after them and we will have a great country.

Who said that?

I thank Deputy Adams. He does not live in the real world at all. People in Dundalk are as entitled to have legitimate concerns as people in Cork or anywhere else.

They will be glad the Taoiseach recognises that.

It is good to talk about them but it is also good to remember that 80% of the bills that will go out from Irish Water will be for €24 or less per month. The Government has set out a range of supports for people in different categories and we want them to reach every household in the country. Members' contributions to last week's budget debate pointed out that a number of households would not attract the current benefits because of their level of income tax or support. We need to cover all households. From that point of view, I remind the Deputy that the Minister for Social Protection will introduce a €5 payment per week per child in child benefit to be followed up again next year and the year after, if the Government is re-elected, and, much to his astonishment, the return of a Christmas bonus of 25%, which will be dealt with in the social welfare legislation.

It would not pay for the turkey.

What about respite care?

I refer again to the reasons for setting up Irish Water, which are to deal with the poor infrastructure, the poor quality drinking water in many cases and the poor quality of treatment works.

It is important we fix all these for the next 50 years. That is why Irish Water was set up. We have to move to a situation whereby Irish Water, as part of the Ervia board, can deal with the practicality of answering telephone calls and providing people with information about leaks and how they can be fixed and so on. It is also important from a Government point of view that there is certainty in regard to the charges and levels that will apply and for how long they will apply in terms of the structure set out. The two policy positions put to the regulator by the Government were that water provision in respect of every child should be free and that every household should be entitled to a 30,000 litre free allowance on production of a PPS number.

The service is not being privatised. It is being retained in public ownership for the benefit of the people. It is time to deal with this issue and to do so in a fair and clear way in order that people know exactly what they will get for the payments they make.