Dáil turns into political swamp with parties mired in water charges standoff

Another delay, another fudge, another grand morass in Irish politics as the decay of this minority Government begins to stink. Agreement on water charges has once more been postponed.

As parties try to muddy the waters over the latest impasse on charging for services, it is clear that this delay in finding common ground on water is populist politics at play.

Divisions between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil on how to proceed with water charges held up the government-formation talks last year. Other parties capitalised on the fury and the two main groups thus feared losing support after the backlash on water bills.

A fragile minority Government was cobbled together and the toxic issue of water was flushed down the drain and left for an Oireachtas committee to wrangle over.

For the last week, chest-thumping TDs on both sides of the water charges debate made defiant statements in Leinster House.

Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen threatened a collapse of Government. Housing Minister Simon Coveney nearly called his bluff.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have failed to reach an agreed solution, and so the contentious issue of water has been parked again.

The Oireachtas water committee is to seek legal advice and been given an extension to April 14.

Numerous TDs were elected last year on a mandate to scrap water charges. Any future vote — guided by the water committee’s work — is likely to go that way.

It is a farce that parties will not agree some formalities to facilitate this vote.

In reality, the delay buys Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil time to come to an agreement, after a rocky week in which the Government support deal threatened to collapse.

The crux of the dispute hangs on whether there should be an ‘excess’ charge for water. Fianna Fáil says no; Fine Gael says yes.

The latest suggestion is from Fianna Fáil, which says 2007 legislation, rather than a new system, could be used to penalise households.

Micheál Martin’s party will do anything other than support a fresh charge, amid fears left-wing parties would take advantage of this.

Fianna Fáil disagrees with EU advice, the recommendations of an expert group, and even the opinion of the attorney general. And it is basing all this on advice which it got from barristers, including one who ran for the party in a previous local election.

On the other hand, Fine Gael knows it will be criticised if it abandons the water charging regime after spending €500m spent on meters and after enforcing charges in the last government. What would follow would be a system of refunds and months of criticism.

For both sides, the politics of the day influences their decision on water. Neither can lose. This has resulted in the standoff and a decision yesterday for the water committee to delay its report. This, in turn, means water charges must be frozen beyond the March-end deadline.

In the political swamp that marks this current Dáil, little stands firm and rises above the stench of a decaying Government support deal. Resolutions are sunk and left for another day.