Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Labour)

I am happy to have the opportunity to speak in the debate on such a critical issue. I have consistently opposed the introduction of an unmetered, flat-rate water charge. In that regard I welcome the Minister's comments of clarification. He has been crystal clear on the issue. Some of the commentary from certain sections of the House has been unfair. There is no doubt that water is a valuable resource and every one of us has a right to clean, safe and plentiful water. At the same time, we must recognise that water is not a limitless resource. It comes to us processed and it is an expensive commodity. It is expensive for taxpayers to treat and to distribute. Each of us has a personal responsibility to ensure we conserve and use water wisely.

In that regard the Government intends to take effective steps to improve water quality and ensure further water conservation. We must avoid using a flat-rate charge to plug the gap in the Government's finances which were inherited by the Government supported by Deputy Finian McGrath, who has absented himself again today from the debate.

The Labour Party, as has always been the case, is firmly opposed to any discrimination where water is concerned, especially on grounds of income. Our two primary goals in that regard are to improve water quality and ensure water conservation. They must be met in an equitable manner, one which does not unfairly hit poorer households in this country. A flat-rate charge would provide absolutely no incentive whatsoever for people to be economical with their water usage. For those who wish to conserve water and lower their household bills, a flat-rate charge would effectively remove the option for them. Any proposed water charges should not cause undue hardship to struggling families. A metering system is the fairest method through which charges can be introduced. I welcome the proposal to introduce such a system.

As many of my colleagues in the Labour Party have explained in recent weeks, the metering system will expedite a fairer billing system. Not only that, but it will provide much needed employment for small builders and contractors across the country. I do not resent the idea of paying for water. I pay for it myself in a group water scheme. I pay far more than the proposed charge that has been mooted in the print media. I strongly condemn the use of what appears to be a type of double-taxation as a funding mechanism for domestic water. Water is a commodity. It is a valuable resource. I fail to understand how the installation of water meters along with a flat-rate charge makes any sense at all. Surely it is unreasonable to believe that installing meters in people's homes, while at the same time hitting them with a disproportionate flat-rate charge would do any good for the conservation of water.

I strongly support and recommend the introduction of a national waiver scheme, whereby the poorest and most vulnerable families in Ireland would be exempt from proposed water charges. It is crucially important that significant investments must take place along the lines indicated by the Minister. It is an indictment of the previous Government that the average national rate of water leakage is 58% after €4 billion in resources has been pumped into the system in the past 14 years. At a time of scarce resources it is deplorable that treated water would go back into the ground again.

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