Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht but I followed some of the debate last week, and the debate following the establishment of Irish Water. Until last December there were 34 local authorities across the country, which were not connected or coordinated on delivery of water services and water treatment. Senator Barrett said that nobody had ever been in touch with him about water. I was a member of a local authority and have been a public representative since 1997 and I have a large file of requests from people contacting me about water services, lack of water services and poor provision in their area, specifically about leakages. The water mains rehabilitation programme seems to have been on the shelf in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for 20 years without progressing. That is the legacy this Government inherited, and that is just one problem. It wants to deliver a modern, efficient, reliable water supply. That is what this country needs if it is to move forward.

The horrendous floods in Cork in 2009 showed a stark contrast between the city and the county. There was no interconnection between Cork city and Cork county for water provision. As a result, some areas of the city were left without water for up to three weeks. That is the appalling vista that people live with day-to-day. It is a small insight into what Irish Water will have to deal with. I strongly supported establishing one system to amalgamate all water facilities, to ensure that we have a secure, efficient, reliable supply across the country and Irish Water is the way to do that.

It is important to use Bord Gáis, with its network experience and experience of dealing with customers. Irish Water will have approximately 1.8 million customers, 1.6 million of whom will be domestic users. That will be a challenge for it but it has and will have the expertise to deal with that. The debate we have had over the past two weeks has been very valuable. It has given everybody an insight into how Irish Water operates. Tendering for consultants on the open market was the right route to take. We need to establish exactly where we are in respect of infrastructure and what is needed in order to deliver the system. Whether they represented value for money we do not know but the contracts were awarded through an open tendering process. We have to respect that. There is more to come in this debate. The Commission for Energy Regulation has stated that the costs seem to be appropriate. It will look further into that, this year, 2014.

There will be openness and transparency in this process. Indeed, the Government has given an undertaking that Uisce Éireann will be subject to the freedom of information provisions. We all need to look forward with a view to ensuring our investment in this public utility succeeds in delivering the efficient water system that is so badly needed. A situation where 40% of our costly water supply is leaking into the ground is an absolute disgrace. There have been many years of under-investment in water infrastructure. In fact, we should be grateful to the EU for dragging us, kicking and screaming, to provide some level of investment, particularly in terms of water treatment. In general, however, this is an area that has been totally neglected because it was not visible. There is a great deal of pressure on public representatives to deliver visible improvements, such as investment in road resurfacing, recreational facilities and so on. Investment in water infrastructure has never been high on the agenda.

The establishment of Irish Water is a major achievement. We must offer it our support and work together to ensure it operates efficiently and transparently. It must deliver a water system that is reliable for both domestic users and those who invest in and do business in this country. The availability of a clean water supply should not be an issue for anybody.