I do not doubt that he will be an independent voice in this Chamber. I am sure he will be on the right side when important votes are taken on issues that have an impact on people. Fair play to Senator Craughwell on his election.

On three occasions over the last two weeks, I have called for a debate on water charges and the water service plan. I made the point that during the many hours this House spent debating the Water Services Bill 2013, at no point were we allowed to discuss the charges themselves. We were told by the then Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, that when the water services plan, which was farmed out to the Commission for Energy Regulation, was ready, it would be brought back to the Oireachtas so that we could have our say. That did not happen.

Hear, hear.

The vast majority of the 100,000 people who were out on the streets on Saturday cannot afford to pay these water charges. On each of the three occasions in recent weeks on which I have asked the Leader to arrange a debate on this matter, I have put it to him that 180,000 families cannot afford to pay their mortgages at the moment. Should they allow their mortgages to slip a bit further so they can pay the Government's water charges? Should families that cannot put enough food on the table put even less food on the table to pay these charges? Should people who cannot afford to pay existing bills let those bills go into further arrears to pay water charges? This was not properly explained by the Government. It is a disgrace that Fine Gael and the Labour Party voted for the Water Services Bill 2013 without knowing how much it was going to cost or how all of this was going to work.

Hear, hear.

The former Minister of State who set up Irish Water, with whom Senators on this side of the House argued for almost 16 hours, now agrees with us that the whole thing is a disaster. The Government needs to wake up and listen. It got a wake-up call in the two by-elections. It got another wake-up call when 100,000 people came out onto the streets. As the Leader of the House will know, I have held a number of public meetings on the issue of water charges in Waterford city and county. The anger out there is real. People on the other side of the House can smile, but they do not get the reality of what it is like for many families that cannot afford to pay another austerity tax. They do not have the money to give. Perhaps the Leader will give some advice to families that cannot afford to pay existing bills. Which bills should they not pay so they can pay water charges? I reiterate my call for a debate. I am seeking to amend the Order of Business to call on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come to the House today. I have asked for such a debate on three occasions and every time the Leader has failed to provide for it. I think that is wrong. The amendment I am proposing would require the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come to the House to discuss the water services plan and all of the issues in relation to it.

Like other colleagues, I would like to welcome Senator Craughwell to the House. I wish him well in the remaining year or so of this Government.

I also welcome his family, who are in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery. It is a very proud day for all of them as well. It is a great honour for any of us to be elected to the Oireachtas, be it the Lower House or this great House we all serve. As the Fianna Fáil Whip, I look forward to working with Senator Craughwell, in particular on education matters. The Senator has a very distinguished career in the education field, both as a teacher and as a former president of the Teachers Union of Ireland, a union to which I belong.

As Senator Craughwell said quite emotionally during the press conference following his election, it is a great honour for him personally to serve in a House of the Oireachtas. He recalled that as a boy of 16 years he joined the British army and then the Army and following that he educated himself to become a teacher.

Hear, hear.

I wish him well. By way of advice, as the Fianna Fáil Whip I had a conversation with the Government Whip, Senator Paul Coghlan. The voting system can be confusing for those of us who have been here for a while, and we agreed that perhaps for the first year or so Senator Craughwell would just follow whatever I do.

Good try.

That will ease him into the House.

I remind Members to be brief as the budget will be introduced in the other House and most of us want to attend.