Finian McGrath resists paying for water despite Cabinet position

Super junior minister Finian McGrath is still resisting paying water charges despite having a place at the Cabinet table.

Pressure has been put on the minister of state with special responsibility for disability issues to pay water charges, including from his own ministerial colleges.

However, yesterday Mr McGrath said he would seek advice from the Attorney General as he does not want to be “forced into a position where I don’t have to go”.

Independent Alliance TD Mr McGrath said: “I am still very against the concept of what happened and the whole issue of water charges, and what happened.

“But I also feel very strongly that we should let the commission do their work over the nine months and the let the Dáil decide.”

Mr McGrath added that he had voted against legislation in relation to water charges, as he was “very very unhappy the way Irish Water was set up.

“It was a shambles so I feel very very strongly about the issue and that’s the reason why I didn’t pay the water charges in the first place,” Mr McGrath said.

“I recognise the position now that I am in cabinet, so I have contacted the Attorney General looking for legal advice on it to see if there are any constitutional or legal issues there that says I have to do something and I will genuinely look at those.”

The Dublin North Central representative who, along with fellow Independent Alliance member John Halligan, have yet to pay water charges, said he would also be seeking advice from other members of his group.

“There are five of us left in the Independent Alliance,” he said. “Three of us have paid, two of us haven’t, so I want to see the broader view.

“I don’t want to be forced into a position where I don’t have to go.”