Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Metering is a central element of every water conservation programme. I listened recently to the president of the National Federation of Group Water Schemes talking at length about the value of metering and the astonishing impact of putting in meters just to make sure water is not being wasted. Metering is a prudent provision because it helps to pin down leakage and stem wastage, and is an essential aid to water management.

Deputy Morgan referred to the huge amount of water that is lost every day through bad maintenance and bad pipes. Local authorities are coming abreast of that and they are doing major replacement works on which I congratulate them. The Government has provided them with funding for this purpose. It would be folly to take away the opportunity to install meters which would measure and would help to determine leaks. It is not easy to determine leaks, especially in built-up areas and periodic meters are a good way of dealing with this issue. Domestic metering is also used extensively in the rural water sector where it is found to be a positive measure.

Like Deputy Morgan, Deputy Gilmore expressed concern that metering could be a back door method of introducing a charge or could introduce another charge like, for example, telephone line rental. I refer them to section 72(1)(a)(iii), which makes it clear that the measure is "subject to complying with other enactments in relation to charging for water services". The other enactments referred to are section 105 of this Bill and the 1997 legislation. We have a unique position in this country in that not only have we prohibited charging for water once but we have done so twice. It is unnecessary to do it a third time. It would be unwise to remove metering because it is a way of detecting leaks. The Deputy's concerns about metering, which I acknowledge he expressed on Committee Stage, are dealt with in the relevant subsection of section 72. I ask Deputy Gilmore not to press the amendment.

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