Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

I wish to indicate my support for the general thrust of this motion, both in its references to the impact of the recent weather crisis and the inadequate response of the Government, as well as the proposals regarding measures to ensure an improved response in the event of any future recurrence. I would also like to refer to some of my party's view and policies on these issues.

I note and welcome Fine Gael's commitment to public control of the water supply. We will all watch closely to see what measures the Minister will introduce, as he has promised, to address the current situation. Clearly privatisation is not the way forward. That has been proven in other countries. Public utilities have been one of the targets for venture capital unwilling to invest in the real economy, mainly in less developed countries but also in some developed states where companies seek to profit from pre-existing public facilities. Britain is an example of this where the consensus appears to be that despite increased investment, this has been offset by a huge increase in the cost to the public in charges, as well as resulting in a decline in both the quantity and the quality of the water supplied to households. I trust this is not a route that the Minister will ever contemplate going down. I certainly hope not.

Some of the problems associated with the absence of a single State body in charge of water supply were illustrated by the recent crisis and the manner in which supply was cut off in some local authority areas. Most local authority areas have experienced that in the recent past. A national body would be in a position to ensure not only a constancy of supply but also that this operates evenly across the State. It would also, of course, have the responsibility to ensure the proper upkeep of treatment facilities and the supply network.

Both the motion and the Minister in a recent interview have referred to the dangerously high level of treated water that is lost, which has been estimated to have been 43% prior to the cold spell. That is an indictment on the State and local authorities that so much water is lost. There is also the scandalous waste and one which the Minister is correct in stating must be addressed. However, linking that to the proposal to meter and charge for water to households is not the solution if the wastage is due to leaks within the system rather than people being careless or abusing the water supply, which is a problem as was again witnessed recently and needs to be tackled.

There is a need for proper conservation and people need to be educated in regard to the importance of preserving the water supply and the damage done by wasteful household practices. Some people are not aware of how much wastage is actually involved. For example, during the cold weather some people were leaving water taps running to cut down on the risk of frozen and burst pipes. Some of my neighbours did this. I can understand why. Primarily, the water was getting frozen coming from the supply to their houses rather than inside the house. In order to prevent damage to boilers, back boilers and so on they allowed the water to trickle overnight and there was wastage as a result but that was not their fault.

Sinn Féin is opposed to the introduction of water charges as a solution as, in effect, it only acts as an extra tax with no guarantee that the revenue gathered will be directed towards the water supply. As with waste charges the suspicion is that they amount to no more than a double taxation, which gets away from the issue, particularly in the case of water where the State has been negligent in investing in this area. The question that also needs to be answered is why the infrastructure was allowed to fall into such a bad state during the years when the State did have the revenue to undertake the necessary capital works to modernise it and to ensure that this most vital of public utilities was not threatened, as it patently is now, by facilities that are not capable of guaranteeing security of supply, even at times when there has been no shortage of the raw material to be treated and supplied to the public.

In regard to the flooding in the west and the midlands, the division of responsibility for the River Shannon caused serious problems, especially when none of the ten existing agencies involved were in a position of ultimate control. The ESB controls its weirs along the River Shannon, with the main weirs located at Athlone, Meelick and Parteen. The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board, or Inland Fisheries Ireland after the amalgamation from April 2010, has responsibility for conservation, but has no statutory obligation in respect of flooding. Waterways Ireland has an interest in water levels but only so that cruisers have enough water for navigation and on occasion it removes small pockets of silt so that cruisers do not run aground. The Office of Public Works has an annual maintenance programme of dredging in tributaries of the River Shannon each year and was a key player in the meetings called by the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, in response to the crisis.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service, like the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board, has to be consulted before any dredging and has an obligation under EU legislation regarding the protection of certain species. Local authorities, Bord na Móna, the Shannon River Basin District Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency also have responsibilities regarding various aspects of the health of the river and its basin. There is clearly a need to co-ordinate the overall responsibility for the River Shannon under one authority.

The exceptional rain experienced in November raised the water on the River Shannon to record levels and caused severe flooding to nearly 100 houses with a further 70 families affected by access in the Athlone area. The impact of the flooding exceeded all past experiences and left homes flooded, contents damaged and destroyed, road impassable, land and businesses flooded and individuals and families having to abandon their homes and relocate elsewhere. Some people are still in temporary accommodation around the town.

The flood co-ordination group, involving Athlone Town Council, Westmeath County Council, the HSE, the Defence Forces, Civil Defence, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Athlone flood relief centre distributed 30,000 sandbags, provided evacuation assistance, emergency accommodation, transport and humanitarian and financial support. Waste disposal facilities, skips, cleaning materials, disinfectant, gloves, brushes and protective clothing were distributed. The cleaning of all public roads and sewers was also undertaken by the local authorities. This voluntary effort was immense and should be commended.

Other parts of the country were also affected and I witnessed some of the damage caused in Carlow and Sallins. The main complaint that I have heard was as referred to in the motion, the slowness of response on the part of the State. There are also serious issues, as I have referred to elsewhere, in regard to planning permission being granted for housing developments in places where location and history would have indicated a serious risk of flooding in some areas.

The motion also refers to roads, and again serious problems were encountered during the cold weather with many roads closed. Every county has been affected. I have never seen roads in such a dilapidated state as in recent weeks. We have been told that given the cuts in local authority funding this will have huge repercussions for the repair and restoration of most of those roads. There is an urgent need for funding to be made available to local authorities so that they can deal with this issue. I support the motion and call for the establishment of a plan for a severe weather agency in the event there being a repeat of such poor weather conditions, whether prolonged rain, ice or snow.

I have one question for the Minister of State. Has the Government applied for EU emergency funding? I understand the deadline is tomorrow.

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