Fianna Fáil issued the following statement on April 6th 2017 following Fine Gael's rejection of a Oireachtas Water Committee Draft Report the previous day. According to the Irish Times the two parties will meet over the weekend. So it remains to be seen Fianna Fáil succumbs to what he describes as 'manoeuvring in an internal political party contest'.

Leo Varadkar, left andSimon Coveney, right

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government Barry Cowen TD said, “Yet again it has been confirmed that the two contestants for the Fine Gael leadership are willing to endanger their government’s existence in order to prove their macho credentials to Fine Gael members.

It appears that their leadership contest is not about the future of Ireland but about who will be more aggressive with other parties. Their continued defence of a discredited policy and insistence that clear agreements can be breached continues to be a major problem.

Fine Gael’s water policy has been a fiasco from the outset. They delivered a loss-making regressive charge and a state agency focused on issuing bills rather than fixing leaks. It continues to spin but the failure of their policy is absolutely clear.

The policy which Fianna Fáil is supporting is legally, environmentally and financially sound – as proven repeatedly in the evidence and independent advice obtained by the Oireachtas Committee.

Fianna Fáil has honoured its confidence and supply agreement in full and without game-playing. We will, however, not accept any attempt by Fine Gael to change its terms to suit the interests of manoeuvring in an internal party contest.”

Martin Haydon spokesperson for Fine Gael's Oireachtas Water Charges Committee delegation.

If, like us, you are confused about what is happening in the private sessions of the Oireachtas Water Charges Committee, we think that after listening to Martin Haydon on today's RTÉ Morning Ireland, you will not be any further forward.

You have to be on your toes here to catch this Fine Gael sales pitch. Sounds like Mr Haydon may have drank too much morning coffee before the show or maybe the tongue twisting speed , like a typical auctioneer's cant, is deliberately confusing.

Well are you any the wiser? No, more confused probably. Anyway we will have to wait until tomorrow April 6th apparently, to hear how the Committee votes on each point of today's draft report.

One thing that came across from Mr Haydon's interview is that Fine Gael want Irish Water to send out bills charging people if they they go over their allowance by, we are assuming 1.7 times the allowance. Some say this allowance will be 133 litres per person per day but others say 123 litres. We calculate 133 X 1.7 = 226 litres per day. Are you still confused?

Mr Haydon's arguments is pretty flaky about how Fine Gael proposes to measure excessive use. Indeed he seems confused too about what is excessive use and how a company can bill excessive use if there is no meter. Maybe the company could pick a number out of the sky, double it, multiply by ten, then subtract the first number to get an average figure. And last but not least what happens if you don’t pay? Oh that's right, Fine Gael does not want to take people to court.

Meanwhile off set we have Labour and Greens siding with Fine Gael. Jan O’Sullivan is worrying about what others think especially the clever people in Brussels. The Greens are worrying about the environment but then again not so worried about the damage caused by millions of 'Smart' meters. Then we have Sinn Féin, Solidarity/PeopleBeforeProfit and Right2Water claiming a premature victory, possibly a pyrrhic one, and organising a final demonstration this Saturday at 1pm in Dublin to be on the safe side.

And finally Barry Cowen, Fianna Fáil spokesman, today sided with the Anti Water Charges Campaigners. He said that he understands that the Irish people do not want a General Election (not sure about that Barry). He accused Fine Gael of proposing 'bills by the back door' and assured us that you can trust the Fianna Fáil party to stick to their manifesto promises.

Well, Barry, we will give you the benefit of doubt there but we think it prudent to wait until tomorrow and even until the day when eventually the report reaches the Dáil.

Source: RTÉ Morning Ireland, April 5 2017