FIANNA FAIL described the Bill to abolish water charges as a piece of legislation "to enable the taxpayer to underwrite the cost of saving one Labour seat in Dublin in the next election".

In a sharp attack on the legislation, the party's environment spokesman, Mr Noel Dempsey, said the Bill was "half baked" and a "kneejerk" reaction to electoral difficulties. It would leave taxpayers open to a potential liability of £30 million a year in subvention payments and grants.

The Progressive Democrats were equally scathing of the Bill. The party's environment spokeswoman, Ms Mairin Quill, said it was a blatant example of "vote now - pay later" politics. "It is nothing more than a short term tactic to see the Rainbow Government through the coming election campaign," she said.

The legislation, the Local Government Financial Provisions Bill, was introduced by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, and will allow local authorities to claim 80 per cent of revenues from motor taxation to cover losses from the abolition of water charges. Mr Howl in has described the Bill as a radical and innovative move.

Mr Dempsey said the legislation was pandering to one section of the community, urban dwellers, and deliberately treating another section unjustly. "The Minister has tried to convey the impression that this whole package was carefully thought out. Nothing could be further from the truth," he said.

"Section 2 of this Bill purports to give the Minister extraordinary powers to allow him to make it up as he goes along." The Minister was seeking carte blanche to introduce regulations for matters not referred to in the Bill.

"The proposals contained in this Bill will not go anywhere near resolving the crisis in local government. They do not address the basic weakness in local government financing in this country."

Ms Quill said "the decision to give free water, in unlimited quantities, to all homes for all time is an act of gross environmental vandalism. Most voters will see this political opportunism for what it is - people are not fools."

Water policy, she said, should have conservation at its heart. "The Progressive Democrats favour the phased introduction of a system of metering over the 2001-2010 period."