HOUSEHOLD CHARGE:THE SINN Féin ardfheis on Saturday heard a call for Labour TDs in particular to support a Sinn Féin Bill to abolish the €100 household charge.
Laois-Offaly TD Brian Stanley said next month the party would introduce the Local Government Household Charge Repeal Bill, seeking to force the Government to get rid of the charge.
He urged unions, community groups, councillors and TDs, particularly Labour Party members, to help consign the charge “to the rubbish bin of history”.
“We will oppose the household charge at every opportunity, both inside and outside Leinster House.”
However, the party rejected a North Kerry motion urging the leadership “to advise members not to pay” the charge.
During the housing debate the ardfheis adopted a motion that would transfer suitable Nama properties to social housing or for community services.
Dublin South West TD Dessie Ellis said there were almost 200,000 on the housing waiting list, and it was “within the grasp” of the Government to address that issue. There must be a “social dividend from Nama” so that its housing stock was used to assist people seeking homes.
The ardfheis also endorsed a motion opposing the use of hydraulic fracturing – fracking – as a means of gas exploration in Fermanagh and Leitrim and other parts of Ireland.
Fermanagh Assembly member Phil Flanagan said the Government and Northern Executive must develop an all-Ireland network of renewable, clean energy generators to assist Ireland achieve security of energy supply, together with affordable energy prices.
