Mr. Liam Berney:

On behalf of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, I thank the committee members for their invitation to participate in this discussion on the Irish Water proposal to move to a single utility by 2021.

In September 2017, the managing director of Irish Water, Mr. Jerry Grant, attended a meeting of the Irish Water consultative group. The group is a forum that was established to deal with the industrial relations issues that arise from reform of the water sector. At this meeting the unions were formally advised that the board of Ervia, which is the parent company of Irish Water, had decided it wished to take full control of the delivery of the public water service and to end the service level agreements, which are currently in place, in 2021, four years before they are due to expire. Mr. Grant also informed the unions that the board of Ervia had advised the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government of its decision. He requested at that meeting that the unions enter into a negotiation to create a national framework that would provide for the implementation of the Irish Water proposal.

Following the Irish Water announcement, the unions sought and held meetings with the Minister, Irish Water and local authority management. The purpose of these meetings was to gauge the level of support for the Irish Water proposal among the other stakeholders in the sector. We also used these meetings to outline our initial concerns about the proposal.

On 15 January 2018, we received correspondence from the Minister, in which he sought to address some of the issues we had raised with him at a meeting. He also requested that we engage in a process of meaningful dialogue with the other stakeholders in the sector. He reiterated that the current arrangements, that is, the service level agreements, for the delivery of public water services would remain in place until an alternative arrangement was agreed. A copy of his correspondence to us is attached as appendix 1 to this statement circulated to members. I do not intend to go through the appendix, but it is there for members' information. On 8 February 2018, we replied to the Minister's letter. A copy of our reply is also attached as an appendix. Again, I will not go into the detail of it but I wish to draw the committee's attention to some of the main points that were made in the letter.

First, we noted the assurance that there would be no unilateral change to the arrangements for the delivery of public water services. On this basis, we were willing to participate in a process of active dialogue with other stakeholders in the sector. We were agreeable, as the Minister requested, to having a discussion on what was being placed before us. However, we insisted that the process of dialogue, if it was to be meaningful, could not have a predetermined outcome. What we mean by this is that the discussion could not simply be about the implementation of the Irish Water proposal. The reason for this is that the Irish Water proposal had emerged without any explanation as to what problem it was seeking to resolve. In an earlier presentation to this committee, Irish Water contended that its proposal would allow it to address structural inefficiencies in the current delivery model that would result in €70 million in savings a year. The structural inefficiencies have never been raised with the unions in any forum, including the Irish Water consultative group, and, therefore, Irish Water is proposing something that seeks to solve a problem we have never been told about.

The unions favour the continuation of the delivery of the public water service through local authorities. The unions are open to considering any proposal, as we always do, to streamline or improve the efficiency of the current system. Since the service level agreements have been in place, there has been a significant reduction in the number of people employed in the water services, and significant efficiencies have been agreed. The unions are prepared to consider other delivery options. However, our attitude to any other model will be guided by the extent to which it is rooted in the public sector, employs public servants, uses direct labour to discharge its functions and is accountable to the democratic structures of the State. Ervia in the past has had, and continues to have, a model of operating whereby most of the work on the network and so on is done by contractors and is outsourced. It is not a direct labour model. We have concerns about this.

It is important to say at this point, so the committee is under no illusion, that we are opposed to the Irish Water proposal to establish a single water utility under the control of Ervia in the way proposed. We have formed the view that the Irish Water proposals are incapable of being implemented, not least because they envisage the forced transfer of union members represented here out of the employment of local authorities and into employment outside the public sector.

We went on in the letter to address the question of the potential privatisation of the water sector in the future. We believe there is broad public support for the holding of a constitutional referendum to prevent the future privatisation of the water system and we note that the Minister has confirmed that he is willing to facilitate the holding of a referendum. We understand that a Bill to give effect to the holding of a referendum is currently under consideration. We urge all political parties and groupings in the Oireachtas to co-operate with the passage of this Bill in order that a referendum can be held as soon as possible. Any proposal to create a single water utility, as envisaged by Ervia, must have regard to the need for a long-term and sustainable system of local government. In recent years, local authorities have relinquished responsibility for the delivery of important public services, and this has not been to the benefit of citizens who rely on these services. The bin service in Dublin is an example of the deterioration of a service when it has left the local authority sphere. We place a high value on an effective system of local government and the delivery of important public services by local authorities.

On 17 May 2018, the Minister wrote to Ms Oonagh Buckley, the director general of the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, requesting the commission to engage with the parties to identify the issues that arise in the context of the Irish Water proposal and to prepare a report for his consideration. This letter is attached at appendix 3 of this submission. We understand that a plenary meeting will take place on Thursday, 5 July 2018. The unions will attend this meeting and engage in the process.

These are the developments that have taken place and this has been the extent of our involvement since the Irish Water proposal. In this short submission we have tried to outline how, as it currently stands, we view the Irish Water and Ervia proposal. My colleagues represent different unions and categories in the sector and they will be happy to address any questions members of the committee might have.