The President of the Workers Party, Michael Finnegan, has said that the announcement that householders will be made pay up to €300 for the installation of water meters in their home has shown that the government has learned nothing from the mass resistance of people to the Household Charge.
Mr. Finnegan said that the government’s decision was risible and would meet even stronger resistance than the Household Charge.
“Not only does the government expect people to sign up for the Household Charge which is the equivalent of turkeys voting for Christmas, they now expect them to pay for water meters which is akin to expecting turkeys to pay for their own chopping boards”
Mr. Finnegan said that the Fine Gael / Coalition had cut itself off from reality and is no longer even reading the newspapers where today we have the second report inside a fortnight showing that most households now have no money left after paying their weekly bills. “For a government that is barely a year in office this coalition has retreated into an ivory tower of isolation very early on in its term of office. It is prepared to inflict untold pain on ordinary people while the Taoiseach and his ministers wine and dine and strut around Wall Street with those who have caused the economic crisis.
“Only a very rude awakening will make this government sit up and listen to the people telling them that they can bear no more pain and that ridiculous proposals like charging for water and water meters are doomed to fail. Otherwise they will face the same sort of drubbing given to Fianna Fáil at last year’s election, or perhaps much worse”