Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The commission accepts the notion that a teenager uses way less water than an adult, when anyone knows that a teenager uses more water than most adults, and it has accepted the definition of a child. This makes it clear there is no free water or free allowance and the commission is perpetuating that myth that is out there.

My second question concerns the price rate that has been given. The commission has accepted €4.88 as the price. I have figures from five different local authorities, and the business price of water at the moment in Limerick City and Limerick County is €2.70. In Fingal it is €1.95, under South Dublin County Council it is €1.93 and in Dublin City it is €1.78. In all these areas, householders are paying more than businesses pay. Can the witnesses explain why they gave that price for water?

It has become clear to the 100,000 people who were on the streets and to everybody else that people fundamentally reject the bonus culture etc. We do pay for water; we always have done. The witnesses actually accept that in one part of their document. Why did they not seek that real conservation measures would be undertaken? In Britain, where there is metering, domestic water usage is 141 litres per person per day. This is not much different from Ireland. Yet since 1996 water losses in the Dublin region have been brought down from 42.5% to 28% through investment and through an actual programme where leaks were detected by teams. That would save much more money, as would dual-flush toilets, water harvesting and all of those things. No effort is being made to bring those in. In Denmark through dual-flush toilets and other educational measures they achieved a figure of 30 litres per day for sewage, whereas in Britain it is 51 litres. Huge amounts could have been saved on that. The only conclusion we can come to is that this is an austerity tax pure and simple with lots of window dressing to make it look fair. The fact that a very sick or infirm person gets no waiver or discount puts it all in perspective.