Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann:

recognises the social and economic hardship caused by water restrictions and disruptions for families and local businesses;

recognises that an inefficient, outdated and fragmented water network has contributed to drinking water supply problems across the State;

notes with concern that on average 43% of Ireland's treated drinking water supply is lost through unidentified leaks;

notes that problems associated with water shortages were discussed in Dáil and Seanad Éireann in January 2010 with little action taken since then to avoid a repeat of similar problems;

and calls on Government to:

establish a single publicly owned water utility company to take over responsibility for water investment and mains management on a national basis;

establish a new Utilities Commission to merge existing regulators for utilities and to take responsibility for regulating a new water utility company;

re-allocate future water funding from the Exchequer to prioritise water conservation by investment in water mains weather proofing; and

examine all engineering resources of the State to ensure a rapid remedy to widespread burst water mains.

I welcome the Minister to the House for this debate on what is an essential resource, that is, the water resource utilised by our country not only for consumption by the citizens but also for business, agriculture and many other uses. It is a vital and valuable resource.

To put water in its proper context, Ireland is a very small island nation surrounded by water. We have higher than average rainfall, which is reflected in our many green fields, lakes and rivers throughout the country. One would think there would not be a problem with water supply and water quality but as we are all aware and certainly from recent experience, especially that of only a year ago, the consistent supply of clean drinking water is a significant problem.

The average demand for drinking water in Dublin alone is 540 million litres a day. The four water treatment plants in operation in Dublin were designed to supply 518 million litres of water. The capital city, therefore, is almost up to its maximum capacity. By 2031 it is expected that the demand for water in Dublin will increase to 800 million litres a day. That alone points to a major problem to ensure an adequate supply of water to the capital.

The problem is not confined only to the capital. Many towns and villages have had no water for a protracted period since the recent big freeze. Some people had no water for weeks on end. Some in the larger urban areas had water restrictions while others had no water.

We are surrounded by water. It is falling as I speak. Having put the issue in context we must ask ourselves why this problem persists. Why do we have water shortages? We have some statistics that point to abnormal leakage from our water networks. The leakage amounts to 43% of clean water being lost nationally through substandard pipe networks. That is a problem we experience in normal times but the problem is exacerbated during times such as the big freeze we experienced lately. We have seen the impact of that where networks have been obliterated during the thaw. Pipe networks were frozen and when the thaw came, the pipes burst.

Why do we have the problems to the extent we are experiencing? I am aware our neighbours in Northern Ireland are experiencing huge problems also but we must strive to improve our water network system to ensure we do not have the water restrictions and cuts we have experienced which are having a very negative impact on quality of life and also on businesses trying to keep open. I refer to the hospitality trades in particular. Hotels, restaurants, shops and retailers are trying to do business every day which is almost impossible if they do not have access to a clean water supply.

On the question of networks, we must ask ourselves about the quality and installation of our network. We have seen as a result of recent developments that large parts of our water infrastructure were not installed to a proper standard or to a proper depth in the ground. Many of the new housing estates recently experienced burst water mains. Stopcocks and water mains froze because the network was not installed to an adequate standard. I do not necessarily blame Government for that. Local authorities and developers had a major part to play in installing these networks.

I am aware that many of these networks must be signed off by competent people in the engineering profession. It is often the case that they are signed off and submitted to the local authority but sometimes when the local authorities take them in charge, they are left to deal with the problems. We must ask what we can do to eliminate the occurrence of that problem in future. I have said this to local authority management and to others. Where private estates have experienced burst water mains due to inadequate infrastructure or poor installation standards, why have the developers, or the engineers who signed off on those networks, not been pursued by local authorities for the costs involved in putting these networks right? I am sure the engineers who signed off on the networks have professional indemnity and if they have been wrong they should be held to account, as should the developers. Local authorities and taxpayers should not be left with the problems. I urge the Minister, through his office and his officials, to ensure that local authorities pursue rogue developers who did not install water networks to a proper standard.

I appreciate that more than €1 billion per annum is being invested in water programmes. The Minister recently opened a new water treatment system in Waterford. This system was badly needed and very welcome. Unfortunately, there is not the same level of investment in water supply. We still have thousands of kilometres of old cast iron or lead piping in our older towns and villages. Little or no maintenance has been carried out on these by the relevant local authorities. Fine Gael believes this area needs to be approached in a more responsible and accountable manner. The current legislation designates 29 county councils and five city councils as water authorities with the full responsibility of providing a clean and adequate network to the country. Each local authority has its own priorities. One might see the roads network as a bigger priority than the water network and another might prioritise the water network over roads.

Fine Gael believes we need an overall public utilities system that will hold all local authorities to a consistent and equal standard throughout the country. To do that we must ensure local authorities and their officials, and the general populace, understand the true value of our water network and infrastructure and the value of water itself. This will require a whole reorganisation of how we manage water networks. It is very clear that the eye was taken off the ball during the boom years. Government and local authorities have been playing catch-up with developers and new development. They have taken their eye off the ball with regard to consistent regular maintenance programmes on water conservation and network renewal.

How many local authorities know the true value or have done a full evaluation of the entire water network in their jurisdictions? Have they IT systems that keep an up-to-date evaluation of the asset value and age of their pipe networks, when they were last maintained, where there are leaks and the priority areas that need attention? If we are to continue with investment, we can no longer afford to invest in water networks on an ad hoc basis, with various priorities in different local authority areas. A national survey of the entire water pipe infrastructure should be done. Its condition, age and projected life should be clearly evaluated. Under normal conditions, even without freezing temperatures, we are leaking more than 43% of our natural water resource, which is totally unacceptable. A national data capture programme to digitally record, map and establish an accurate database and records of all such information in a national water asset management system should be implemented. That is important, before any more money is invested in water infrastructure.

The following proposal is a personal one and goes beyond Fine Gael policy. A regulatory authority should be established with legislative powers to hold local authorities or water agents, that is whoever is responsible for the delivery of water networks, to account, and to ensure proper standards in water delivery and quality. The Environmental Protection Agency and the local authorities have various roles at present. Some of those roles could be taken from the EPA and assigned to the public water utility and new regulatory regime. This already happens in the energy sector, where the Commission for Energy Regulation ensures there is adequate investment is the electricity networks. Water is as important a resource as electricity. Fine Gael put a value on that resource, as does the Green Party.

One might ask where the money for this will come from. All political parties have had to deal with this bugbear. Fine Gael has not been afraid to broach this subject. We have said we are committed to serious reform of how local authorities manage water networks. We will put a value on water, as a resource, and charge domestic users where they are found to be wasting water over and above an allowance, that should be free, for daily household usage. In that way, one would bring more accountability to water usage in domestic households. At present, the only people paying for water are businesses, who are already stretched to the limit with various other overheads to keep their companies going. Businesses are failing on a daily basis. We cannot expect investment in adequate water supply and quality if we do not come up with new ways of managing our water network, supply and quality. This is how we need to reform water supply.

I urge the Minister to look at other initiatives to incentivise public buildings, such as schools, that have high water usage to harvest water. This is a positive suggestion that I am sure the Minister will support. There are many grants for schools and other buildings. The Department of Education and Skills provides the summer works scheme for schools, for example. However, a school that proposes to install a rain-water harvesting system, which could cost up to €7,000, will not qualify for the summer works scheme. In the long term, such a grant could see every school install a sustainable water system. All schools would not be done overnight, but over time we would have a more sustainable model of water usage in our communities. That scheme could be rolled out to other areas of water usage.

I am critical of Government and how it has managed water systems in the past. I am trying to be positive in proposing new and better ways to manage our water system in the future, because that is what our country deserves.