Rushing through legislation - Irish Water charade continues

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his cabinet have done so many U-turns on Irish Water that they should consider taking dancing lessons.

On Tuesday, under the Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill, the Government effectively cancelled its previous threat to jail anyone who refuses to pay the charge.

As well as that, no defaulter will now be brought to book until their debt reaches €500. Any amount more than that can be enforced through a social welfare or salary attachment mechanism.

But this will require a court order and, given the current average charge of €260 a year, it means that it will be 2017 at least until it can be implemented, long after next year’s general election.

That suggests that both Fine Gael and Labour are running for cover on the controversial charge, mindful that it could scupper their chances of re-election.

The Government’s latest collective pirouette involves rushing through no fewer than 22 Irish Water amendments, placed before the Dáil as part of the Environment Miscellaneous Provisions Bill.

The word “miscellaneous” describes a dolly-mixture of legislation that also covers dog racing and Killarney National Park. The Irish Water provisions range from preventing home owners selling their property until they have paid their water bills, to obliging landlords to give details about their tenants to Irish Water.

This undue and undemocratic haste has an air of uncomfortable familiarity about it.

Last December, when the main provisions for setting up Irish Water were put before the Oireachtas, there was no proper parliamentary debate and little consultation on such an important piece of legislation.

The Government used the despised mechanism of a guillotine motion to cut short a debate on the new laws on water charges in order to guarantee that it would be passed before Christmas.

The latest decision to stifle debate on new Irish Water provisions is almost a carbon copy of that charade, suggesting that the Government has learned nothing from the shambles in the setting up of Irish Water in the first place.

It is widely accepted that the creation of the service has been a public relations disaster from the start. But this is not just about PR spin. There is something more fundamental at stake.

What is, perhaps, not so widely recognised is the democratic deficit arising from the Government using — indeed, abusing — its majority to rush through legislation to get its way.

It is time for the Government to realise that it is time for a total reappraisal of Irish Water, recognising that it hasn’t worked to date and is unlikely to work in the future as it is currently instituted.

That, at least, would mean fewer U-turns and less dirty dancing.