Pearse Doherty TD
Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty has insisted the government still has no plan on water tax credits.
Deputy Doherty was speaking after the Minister of Finance failed to bring forward any amendments to the Finance Bill to implement any tax credits.
It also came after a sit-in by Sinn Fein TDs in the Dáil after Joan Burton refused to answer questions from Deputy Mary Lou McDonald on whether or not the Government would take Irish Water payments out of wages or social welfare payments.
The Gaoth Dobhair politician said: “Weeks after the Budget announcement that tax payers would receive 20% of water charges back in credits the Minister has still not brought forward details on how this will work.
“These changes must be legislated for in the Finance Bill but it was not in the original Bill and no government amendments addressing this issue have been tabled at Committee Stage.
“The later in the process any such amendments are introduced the less debate and scrutiny is possible. The question therefore is: is Minister Noonan delaying to avoid discussion or is he just clueless as to how to make sure everybody benefits?
‘The Tánaiste has likewise been short on detail when it comes to the promised Social Welfare rebate for water charges.
“There is clearly no real plan in place for water tax credits and what we are seeing is a government panicking to come up with a plan. This will be time wasted however as the public has made it clear that it will not tolerate water charges, regardless of any half-baked sops from Ministers Noonan or Burton.
“With each passing day the demand for an abolition of water charges mounts. The government should scrap the charges and stop tinkering around the edges.”
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