Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

I wish to share my time with the Minister of State, Deputy Mary White.

I wanted to speak on this motion because it is an important issue and one that is often overlooked. My constituency is part of the South Dublin County Council area, which has one of the lowest rates of water leakage in the country, but even so, there are curtailments of water services every second night. During the freeze, people were cut off; in some cases, in areas close to the Dublin Mountains, they were cut off for even longer. The staff of South Dublin County Council worked diligently to get the necessary works done as quickly as possible, and the council's website provided information on what was going on. I cannot fault the council in any way.

Neither can I fault the Minister, Deputy Gormley, or his colleague Deputy Finneran. As others have said, water conservation investment for 2010-2012 is €320 million, which compares well to the amount of €130 million invested in 2003-2006. Investment has increased exponentially, even allowing for inflation. We have a varied and decrepit pipe system, some of which goes back to the Victorian era, and it will take a long time to repair. However, we also know that the economics of the situation do not allow for total elimination of leaks. Instead, we must try to make sure they are minimised to the extent that no cost is incurred in bringing water from elsewhere. Everything that can being done, bearing in mind the current economic circumstances, is being done.

The final solution is to introduce domestic water charges. The Green Party has been consistent on this issue. We said we wanted a system under which there would be a free allocation of water and all water use above this level would be charged. This would encourage people to conserve water. The situation is similar to that of local authority refuse collection. When waivers were given to those below a certain income level in south Dublin and there was no limit to the amount of rubbish that could be put out for collection, the rates of recycling were atrocious. I do not have the figures to hand but the rates of recycling increased dramatically when people were given free tags, because they knew there was a limit to the amount of rubbish they could put out, and they would pay above that amount. People need an incentive; that is why water charges need to be introduced. However, there must be a fair allocation of water that is not charged.

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