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Water and Sewerage Services (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

I, too, thank the Minister for his introduction on the matter. It is, as he says, a fairly modest measure. I am glad to see that finally some steps are being taken to comply with European directives. In the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland there is a serious backlog, and has been for a long time. As the Minister says, the measure paves the way for water charging in the next year or so. I do not want to get involved in arguments about levels of local taxation in England and Wales and comparing them with those in Northern Ireland. I am familiar with the argument that the noble Lord, Lord Smith of Clifton, has put forward about there being a payment for water in the rates. That is accurate, of course. Then there are arguments about comparability between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The point I want to make to the Minister is a different one. The local taxation rate in Northern Ireland is increasing sharply. In the previous debate, the Minister remarked on how it had to be increased more than Ministers would have wanted. All the indications are that it will continue to go up sharply over the next few years, and water charges will be introduced on top of that. While there may be arguments about lower levels of local taxation in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the United Kingdom, I ask the Minister to ensure that people are looking at the rate of increase in Northern Ireland. We still have many people who are on lower incomes than here. To increase the combined rates and water charges so steeply over the next few years will cause considerable hardship and will manifest itself in considerable discontent. We do not need that at the moment.