We are over time. I call Deputy Catherine Murphy.

What about the 30,000 in poverty?

When the Taoiseach set out months ago to implement water charges and to burden people with the super-quango that is Irish Water, the one stated aim was to turn citizens into customers. It was not disguised and we all recall the Irish Water communications strategy, with six steps to take the person from the citizen mindset to the obedient customer. The Taoiseach has not achieved this despite the thousands of taxpayers' euros spent on PR and propaganda. The Taoiseach has not managed to brainwash Irish people and they do not accept that they will be customers of the Irish Water quango. Originally, this was passed off as a conservation exercise but the attempts to sell it as conservation can be dispensed with. The leaks coming from the Cabinet make it clear it is intended to be a flat charge for many years. How can the Taoiseach talk about a flat charge and conservation in the one sentence? At least we have clarity on that one thing. It is a revenue-raising exercise.

People have not undergone the desired transformation and are not fools. They will see the backpedalling for what it is, an attempt to pacify, soothe and buy time to coerce people into submission. People can see the obvious future, with charges being raised, a dwindling State subvention and the new borrowing for which customers of Irish Water will be on the hook. The cost of Irish Water will not have changed because of the announcements today. The metering programme will still cost more than €1 billion and the consultants and experts will have been paid €80 million. The quango will still exist.

Instead of treating citizens like petulant children who need more time to accept things, will the Taoiseach hear the actual message rather than what he wants to hear? The message is not that we need more time but that we will not pay for an inflated super-quango and we do not want to be Irish Water customers. We will not pay for Irish Water. Will the Taoiseach hear that message and does he accept that it is not about conservation but about raising revenue?

Deputy Catherine Murphy always has been a realist and is well aware that we cannot continue to have raw sewage flowing into the bays and rivers of our country.

Last year it was about septic tanks.

Please, it is not Deputy Mattie McGrath's question.

We cannot continue with 500 of the treatment works that supply water to businesses and people all over the country in an inferior condition. Out of general taxation, the division of them for schools, hospitals, roads and other services has never been sufficient other than to catch up with an inadequate infrastructure and an intolerable situation. Every new business and industry set up or job created adds to the requirement for more water and clean water.

I accept mistakes were made but people have said they want clarity, confidence and to understand about affordability. We cannot say what will be the cost of electricity, gas or bus fares for the next three years. However, when the Minister speaks in the House he will outline with certainty for people the affordability of the contributions they make for domestic water use, accountability in relation to the contributions they make and the changed responsibility and engagement of the people in a people's forum with Irish Water.

This is to ensure there is a direct connection and an understanding between ordinary people and the entity that is Irish Water. Those involved in Irish Water say they have a lot of work to do in trying to build the confidence of the people in them, but we cannot continue in a position where raw sewage is a problem, there are inferior treatment works and 40% of treated water leaks into the ground.

Fix it then; tax the millionaires.

When meters are installed, leaks can be found.

Bring back big Phil.

The more that are fixed, the less waste there will be and therefore the greater the saving for the taxpayer, as the cost of producing water will be reduced. It also allows for investment for the future to fix treatment works and provide new infrastructure. We cannot go on in parts of Dublin where there are pipes that are 100 years old and incapable of providing a service for consumers and customers.

Change them.

We cannot go on with treatment works that are of grossly inferior standard or where there is no treatment at all. As this is a country that prides itself as being clean and green, that will just not work. I recognise that mistakes were made.

Irish Water was a mistake.

Today when the Minister outlines the conditions that will apply, there will be evidence that the Government has listened to ordinary people who expressed their anxiety and concerns. These concerns and anxieties will be reflected in the actions of the Government in today's announcement.

I appreciate that the Taoiseach acknowledged that I am a realist. When Irish Water was established on 1 January, development contributions could have been a key part of funding capital projects, but they were pretty much dispensed with by a circular from the Department. I cannot understand this. There have been no levies applied this year to planning permission applications in respect of water and wastewater, which is astonishing.

There have been.

We are talking about the need for clarity and certainty and these words are repeatedly trotted out. We heard them earlier this year before the local elections, the protests and the comments by the Commission for Energy Regulation. We would not be talking about this issue today if we did not have the game changer in the middle of October, when 100,000 people took to the streets. That is why we are here today. I attended the march in the middle of October when people were asking why it had not happened five years ago, even before the Government entered office. People realised that this was a powerful action and the message had to be put across in a way that it would people out onto the streets, onto which they will emerge in serious numbers on 10 December. If more than 100,000 people emerge onto them on that day, in what back-pedalling will the Government engage on the Irish Water issue at that point?

The questions raised which were of great concern to people included using personal public service numbers, the bonus regime, call-out charges and the level of uncertainty about what the contribution would be.

The double tax.

There was concern about whether the Irish Water entity could continue to be able to borrow off balance sheet to enable the Government to invest for the future. All of these matters have been very carefully considered following the legitimate and peaceful expression of people's anxieties and concerns on the streets. It was a very powerful movement, to which I must say with a sense of humility that the Government has listened and reacted.

It listened to itself.

In other words, it woke up.

It panicked a little also.

People have come to me.

It came out of the coma.

To answer Deputy Catherine Murphy's question, the contribution levels to be announced today will be seen to be fair, affordable, clear and consistent in the time ahead.

After millions of euro have been wasted.

A new name.

It will also deal with the questions of the continued public ownership of the Irish Water entity-----

Santa Claus.

No leaks.

-----and the necessity for that entity to gain the public's confidence not only by being able to respond to their queries but also by demonstrating the investment programme for the future.

The charge is gone. It is now called a contribution.

Most essentially, people's contributions should go strictly towards investment in meeting Irish Water requirements and not to deal with any sideline issue.

It was a charge last week.

A contribution has already been made.

These points were made in a valid way and we have reflected on them and listened to the concerns expressed.

The Taoiseach has not heard what people said. They said they would not pay anything.

I hope that when the Minister addresses the matter today, he will bring about certainty and clarity.