Violence and intimidation are not effective forms of protest – Mitchell O’Connor

Fine Gael TD for Dún Laoghaire, Mary Mitchell O’Connell, has today (Wednesday) welcomed the announcement of a fair, simple and affordable water plan that provides certainty. Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Mitchell O’Connor acknowledged the frustration of the Irish people who protested legitimately, but said that violence and intimidation must be condemned.

“I accept that the role out of Irish Water was handled badly; this is a fact that Minister Kelly has acknowledged, but today the Government has responded with a revised, more realistic and most importantly, a fair plan for water charges.

“To ensure simplicity, charges will be capped at €160 for single adult households and €260 for all other households. Once the universal water conservation grant of €100 is applied, the maximum net charges will be €60 per year, or just over €1.00 per week for single adult households. All other households’ net charge will be €160 per year, or €3.00 per week.

“All eligible households will receive the water conservation grant of €100 per year from the Department of Social Protection, once they have registered with Irish Water. The water charges will now be among the lowest in Europe.

“Today’s announcement has come about because the Government has listened to people who expressed genuine concern. The violence and intimidation we have seen over the past few days has been destructive rather than constructive and has not assisted the reasonable people who have legitimately expressed their concerns.

“Sinn Féin and other representatives including Joe Higgins, Ruth Coppinger, Richard Boyd Barrett and Paul Murphy have done nothing but waste time, scaremonger and exploit the situation. Deputy Murphy last Saturday assisted with the internment of the Tánaiste in a car and then appealed to the mob, “Do we agree to let her go?” The Tánaiste that was invited to Tallaght but Deputy Murphy chose to wreck the day for the graduates.

“There seems to be a concerted effort to undermine and challenge the rule of law and democracy, both in the Dáil and throughout the state. Not happy with ignoring and physically obstructing democratically elected representatives, these people expect to employ the same strong arm, thuggish bully tactics here within the chamber.

“They are trying to destabilise this state with menacing threatening behaviour, hell bent on obstructing the Government from doing its job, from doing what we have been elected to do. I also find it disgraceful that the ordinary workers who are employed to install the meters and earn a decent days wage are subjected to horrendous abuse from these so-called protestors.

“I know one young female engineer who was threatened with a baseball bat, workers have been followed home and they have been vilified on social media. This is simply unacceptable behaviour.

“The Government have put their hands up and have put forward an affordable model that will ensure our water security into the future. The focus on water conservation will continue. Irish Water’s investment programme will stop the leaks, ensure everyone has good, clean water and that the country has the water infrastructure it needs to secure investment and grow the economy.”