We are running seriously over time on Leaders' Questions. I call Deputy Eoin Ó Broin on behalf of Sinn Féin.

I was going to say the Ceann Comhairle was in a very generous mood with time this morning, but-----

I will be equally generous to everybody. If some Members disregarded the time limits, the Deputy should do so also.

I will not need the Ceann Comhairle's generosity.

It appears that Fine Gael's mishandling of the issue of water charges is set to continue. Yesterday we finally saw the motions to establish the committee on the funding of domestic water services and they confirm yet another stitch-up between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The Government has decided to impose Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh as Chairman of the committee, which, as the Tánaiste knows, is contrary to ordinary procedure. The special Committee on the Future of Healthcare elected its own Chairman; the special Committee on Housing and Homelessness elected its own Chairman; yet for some reason the Government has decided to deny this right to the committee on the funding of domestic water services. Ministers do not have the right to hand-pick the Chairmen of Oireachtas committees, yet that is exactly what is happening.

Who elected Deputy Gerry Adams?

This is just the latest instalment in the great Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael stitch-up on water charges.

A majority of the Deputies elected to the House were elected on manifestos which included a commitment to scrap water charges, yet every time Sinn Féin has forced a vote on the matter, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have stitched it up to keep the issue of water charges alive. The people voted for abolition of this unjust charge, but what did Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do? In a stitch-up they suspended the charges for nine months and appointed a so-called expert group to examine the issue. Now, in another stitch-up, they are interfering with the committee, the job of which will be to discuss the expert group's report. All the while, Fianna Fáil keeps twisting and turning on the issue. It is the party that signed up to water charges in 2010, that called for their suspension in 2012 and their abolition in 2016, yet only last weekend Deputies Micheál Martin and Barry Cowen left the door open for the return of a water charging regime. With all of the U-turns and stitch-ups, is it any wonder it has tied itself up in knots on the issue?

My questions are very simple. Will the Government withdraw from its attempt to impose a Chairman on the special committee on the funding of domestic water services? Will it put an end to the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael stitch-up on water charges? Will it respect the democratic will of the people and allow us to vote on scrapping these unwanted and unjust charges?

May we please have order for the Tánaiste's response?

The Dáil will vote on the motion on the establishment of the committee today and I assume Deputy Eoin Ó Broin will accept its democratic will when the vote is taken. The Chairman of the committee is named in the motion as Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh who, as the Deputy knows, is not a member of any party but a member of the Independent group in the Seanad.

He is a Fianna Fáil nominee.

I am sure the Senator will chair the committee in a way that is fair to all members. As Deputy Eoin Ó Broin knows, the committee has been given a set timeframe of three months from the date of its first public meeting in which to report to both Houses. The expert commission is due to publish its report at the end of the month. I understand the motion on the establishment of the special joint committee was discussed by the Business Committee this morning and it is appropriate to have the committee in place before the commission's report is published. It needs to be set up by the Dáil today and any vote called can take place today. As we know, the issue is one on which many Members of the House have very differing views; as such, an all-party committee, where every party and group has a voice, is the appropriate place in which to have such a discussion. The Deputy will have ample opportunities to put his views to the committee and I suggest he do so. It is being established as a joint committee in order to include Members of the Dáil and the Seanad. The membership has been designed to broadly reflect the make-up of the Dáil. In fact, it favours smaller parties and groups at the expense of the larger parties, especially the Government. That is the reality.

Not on water charges, though.

There will be a democratic vote to decide on the approach to the work the Government has agreed should be taken. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin will have an opportunity, if a vote is called, to decide whether he wants to support the composition of the committee, including the Chairman. I am very confident that the Chairman named, Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh, will do his work in a way that is very fair to all members. There will be ample opportunities to consider the broad range of issues involved in a place where the work can be done in a way that will provide the best possible information for citizens on what has been a very contentious and difficult issue.

Not only has the Tánaiste confirmed that it is the intention of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to deny the right of the committee to elect its own Chairman, unlike the other two special committees established since the start of the Thirty-second Dáil, she has also confirmed that the Government is imposing on the Seanad one of its four nominees. Ordinarily, when an Oireachtas committee is set up, the Seanad decides who it will appoint to it, yet Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are imposing on the Upper House one of its four nominees in the person of Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh. The reality is that everybody knows that the function of the suspension of water charges, the so-called expert commission and the Oireachtas committee is to get Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the hump of water charges. It allowed the return of Deputy Enda Kenny as Taoiseach and will allow this odd coalition between the two parties to limp on endlessly.

May we have order, please?

I appreciate that, with all of the U-turns, Fianna Fáil is confused about its own position and does not like to hear people remind it of this fact. My question is very simple. Why, for the first time since this Dáil was formed, is the Government seeking to impose a Chairman on a special committee contrary to ordinary procedure?

Why for the first time, probably in decades, is the Government seeking to impose on the Seanad one of its Members it would ordinarily elect for itself to an Oireachtas committee? These are very simple questions. I am sure the Tánaiste has the ability to answer them.

The question is why Deputy Eoin Ó Broin is afraid of the democratic process in which we are involved.

Sinn Féin never really did take to democracy.

Why can Sinn Féin not accept a democratic vote in the Dáil?

Sinn Féin Members do not seem to want to vote on it.

Why can Sinn Féin not accept the results of a democratic vote in the Dáil? There will also be a democratic vote in the Seanad where Senators will have ample opportunity to decide how they wish to respond. They will take their democratic decision as well. Why be so fearful of a committee which will bring in experts to discuss the issue? It will be very helpful to have experts at a committee designed especially to consider this issue. Ireland is the only country in Europe which does not have water charges. It is worthwhile to have a committee with expert input which was agreed by this House. It has been given a clear remit about the issue to be discussed and will report within three months. That is a democratic process which the Government has put forward and which we will vote on today. I suggest Sinn Féin has its input into the committee when it is formed. It is the appropriate place for Sinn Féin to put its opinions on the table.