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Dáil talk
State of the Nation: Water, water everywhere (so let's all have a drink)
Here’s everything you need to know about what’s happening in Irish politics right now…
EACH WEEKDAY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you a comprehensive guide to what’s happening in the political world.
Everyone’s talking about…
Water, and who pays for it… The Budget is disappearing rapidly in the rearview mirror of Irish politics.
Communications problems at Irish water were at the centre of a massive row between Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald and Tánaiste Joan Burton in the Dáil yesterday afternoon.
It’s after it emerged Wicklow County Council have sent letters to tenants who are part of the government’s Rental Accommodation Scheme, essentially threatening them with eviction if they don’t register and pay their water charges.
Speaking on Morning Ireland today, a Sinn Féin councillor in Wicklow described the move as a “bullyboy tactic”.
But, speaking to this website yesterday, an official in the Council’s housing section said they were simply following advice issued by Irish Water.
The row comes amid further criticism of the controversial semi-state company over communication problems.
Meanwhile, TDs are still resorting to Twitter to raise constituents’ concerns over water services…
The agenda
We’ve a Friday sitting in the Dáil today. TDs will be back in the chamber for work on the Social Clauses in Public Procurement Bill and the Ombudsman for Children (Amendment) Bill 2014.
Oireachtas.ie
What the others are saying…
- All the papers carry coverage of Leo Varadkar’s committee appearance yesterday to outline the country’s preparedness for an Ebola outbreak.
- Independent senator and economist Sean D Barrett has labelled water charges as a ‘poll tax’ the Irish Times reports.
- And the Irish Independent is having a go at left-wing TD Richard Boyd Barrett, after he was photographed carrying a coffee from Starbucks.
In case you missed it…
- Mary Lou McDonald popped into TheJournal.ie for a chat yesterday. Here’s what she had to say on Sinn Féin’s defeat in last Friday’s Dublin by-election…
- The Taoiseach has denied misleading the Dáil over Irish Water bonus claims.
- Nigel Farage’s Eurosceptic EU Parliament group has collapsed.
- And Fine Gael are insisting they don’t buy Facebook ‘likes’.
On the Twitter machine…
His man beat them in a by-election last week … you’d think Ming would leave poor Fianna Fáil alone…
have your say