Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister for his reply, which unfortunately does not allay my concerns. Section 72 of the Bill states:

72—(1) Subject to any direction of the Minister under this Act—

(a) a water services authority may—

(i) supply water by measure,

(ii) meter or otherwise measure the volume of water supplied or the volume of waste water discharged,

(iii) subject to complying with other enactments in relation to charging for water services, charge a rent or otherwise recover from a consumer the costs incurred by it in respect of every meter or other instrument provided for measuring the water supplied to or the waste water discharged by that consumer.

The Minister has told us that he will not charge for the water, but it seems to me that he intends to find a device whereby charges can be imposed. The effect of that device, which will be called something else, will be to impose charges for water. If the Minister accepts this explicit amendment, he will ensure that such a situation simply cannot arise.

I will give the Minister a moment to examine section 72, which appears to be quite explicit in its reference to costs pertaining to the domestic use of the water supply. The Minister can call it what he wants, but it amounts to the same thing — the imposition of charges on consumers for water. I ask the Minister to delete section 72(1)(a)(iii) to deal with some of my concerns. I look forward to hearing the Minister's reply.

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