Water legislation and ESM recapitalisation
Pearse Doherty seeks clarity on revised water-charges legislation and an application to the ESM for retrospective bank recapitalisation. The Taoiseach promises a Government position on water within two weeks and says the recapitalisation option remains under consideration.
There has been considerable speculation on water charges legislation and Ministers have refused to rule out the involvement of Revenue. Is it planned to introduce a water services (amendment) Bill which would change the structure of how charges are collected?
Two weeks ago we debated the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, legislation. This is the day on which the ESM receives applications for retrospective recapitalisation of the banks and the billions of euro pumped into them. Can we have a debate on when the Government intends to make an application to the ESM to get our money back, or as much of it as we can?
Comment on this
On the water services (amendment) Bill, the Government will make its views known, having listened to the people, within the next two weeks. There will be a discussion in the House arising from this.
On the ESM Bill, we have made it clear that the option is open to the Government to lodge an application for retrospective capitalisation, if that is its decision, from this point on. As the Deputy noted, today marks the start of that opportunity. The Government will consider the best option in respect of an application for recapitalisation or the value of the banks in Government ownership.