Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

When looking at the numbers involved in water metering yet more holes appear in the Government case. The figures used by the Government are based on the 2006 census, as used in the PwC report on the provision of water services. When we look at the 2011 census figures, we can see further potential problems with the Government's plans. Some 503,000 units or 36% of those households eligible to pay water charges are potentially unsuitable for metering by the Government's standards. These units were either constructed before 1960 or are apartments. This is significantly higher than the 300,000 households or 20% of eligible units the Government has cited.

Instead, we learn that these homes will be subject to yet another regressive flat rate charge without any conservation incentive. This leaves potentially just under 890,000 households for water metering, more in chime with the estimate of Dublin City Council executive manager, Tom Leahy, that one third of households cannot be metered. In stark contrast, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government said that over 1 million homes would be metered by the end of 2014, with only 300,000 excluded because they are apartments or gated communities.

It is unclear whether the 60,000 holiday homes across the country are eligible to pay water charges and whether a meter will be applied. What is the plan for the 230,000 vacant houses in the State? Will they be metered on an ongoing basis as they are occupied or in one fell swoop on estates? Will they be allowed to opt into the metering scheme at their own cost once they are occupied? It is imperative the Government updates its figures and sets out a clear business case for the plans announced before it goes further down the road.

Fianna Fáil has a number of serious, specific concerns about the Government's NewERA project plans to establish Irish Water. From what we have seen so far, the Government is rushing ahead with the creation of Irish Water without seriously considering the broader costs and consequences of setting up a new Government monopoly company over such an important resource. A smoke screen consultation process was utterly undermined by the fact the Government had already decided what it was going to do. The consultative process was mere window dressing and tinkering around the edges rather than coming to the key issues with an open mind.

There are a number of areas in which I would like to reiterate our concerns, including stripping local government of its role. The Government has yet to publish the White Paper on local government reform yet it is aggressively pressing ahead with stripping 34 local authorities of one of their key roles. This incoherent, ad hoc approach undermines meaningful efforts to re-shape local government to suit the needs of modern Ireland.

The PwC report indicated that Irish Water will operate with significantly lower numbers than the 4,278 currently employed by local authorities in the provision of water.

In yet another contradiction, the Taoiseach denied any potential job losses, only to be subsequently contradicted by the Department who said it would be a matter for Irish Water Based on the example of Northern Ireland, at least 1,200 jobs could be lost here. Local authority staff have on-the-ground knowledge that will be lost with the creation of a new company and the shedding of jobs. The local response of a centralised company will inevitably suffer in comparison to on-the-ground operations that have experience in the field of dealing with the water infrastructure.

Thus far, some €130,000 has been spent on consultation fees to PwC, yet the advice they gave was ignored. The absence of a coherent Government strategy has generated substantial fees for private consultants, with money going down the drain. The experience in Northern Ireland confirms the large amount of money committed to contracting private consultants to help create a new body. The studies published by the Government give no indication of the costs involved in hiring consultants, which will spiral as the scale of the administrative challenge created by the Government's decisions becomes more apparent over the coming years.

The Government has set out the broad parameters of the NewERA Irish Water company but has failed to provide meaningful detail on the corporate governance structures of the company. Details on whether it will provide a commercial return on its assets, reporting structures and democratic oversight remain absent. Furthermore, the links between this separate company and the planning authorities, which previously would have all been attached to the local authority, present fresh challenges in ensuring proper sustainable planning. Regardless of its rhetoric in the Dáil, the Government's insistence on the creation of a company indicates that it is preparing the ground for an eventual privatisation of the water system. The choice of Bord Gáis, which has been partially earmarked for sale, further confirms this suspicion. The failure to consider a third way in providing strengthened oversight and an investment model to upgrade the water infrastructure reveals the privatisation goal at the heart of this NewERA white elephant.

The pressures mounting on the Department have clearly been shown up in the cracks now emerging. The rushed nature of the plans to develop Irish Water will place additional pressure on a Department already under strain and local authority officials that will inevitably undermine the quality of work that underpins this project. The lack of detail and contradictory messages thus far bear testament to the strain under which they are operating. This does not bode well for the future implementation of an immensely complex process. Again, the lack of any planned and strategic approach by the Government opens the door to expensive and unnecessary consultancy fees.

The Government's justification for the creation of a singular Government monopoly rests upon the economies of scale of the project and efficiency gains. The PwC report fails to specify detailed efficiency gains. Instead, it gives a vague outline of potential savings. For example, given the Taoiseach's insistence that no jobs will be lost, from where will the savings come? The Minister has yet to clarify these issues. The plans laid out for the future of Irish Water fail to place the customer at the heart of the process. The deficit of local knowledge and on the ground responsiveness will inevitably negatively affect Irish customers. Furthermore, the deficit of democratic engagement, the stripping of local authorities' involvement and the creation of a separate centralised body will create an unaccountable body detached from customers. We fundamentally disagree with the privatisation model put forward by the Government. It lacks local accountability and responsiveness and will lead to job losses. We will shortly publish our own strategy to ensure adequate efficiency in infrastructural upgrades while keeping the effective local element that currently exists. Our model will exclude the heavy consultation fees that the proposed system will generate.

The creation of Irish Water as a part of Bord Gáis follows a murky selection process without public scrutiny or accountability. The decision flies in the face of the only advice the Government got from its consultants. The PwC report commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government recommended against a multi-utility model on the basis of international experience that found this approach had been unsuccessful elsewhere. The strength and associated experience of the retail side of Bord Gáis, which deals regularly with consumers, has, the Government claims, earmarked it as suitable for this massive project. However, this is the side of the company that the Government intends to sell in the future, further exacerbating fears about the privatisation of Irish Water at some stage. Further questions have been raised by commentators about the competency of Bord Gáis in taking on this onerous managerial responsibility.

The conferral of price setting powers on the Commission for Energy Regulation raises another set of unanswered questions. What additional resources will be given to the commission? What will be the nature of the relationship between the Government and the revamped commission? How suitable is this commission for this specific and challenging task? What role will the National Consumer Agency have? Rather than take heed and learn from the grave mistakes made in the all too recent past, the Minister has ploughed ahead with poorly thought out plans based on outdated figures, with little sense of the potential repercussions. The future of water supplies in Ireland deserves and demands better. The Minister and the Government need to answer the mounting list of questions over the future of Irish Water.

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