Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)

It is a pity Deputy Ellis has left the House, as I remember debating in favour of water charges while I was a member of Dublin City Council. He has a selective memory. He should also remember he did not pay his bin charges, a decision that probably led to the privatisation of the city's bin services. Recently, he informed the House he still has not paid them despite his enormous salary.

I welcome the establishment of Irish Water and the Minister's clear commitment to the effect that it will be a semi-State company on a statutory footing and will not be privatised. Building up a proper water infrastructure is crucial to Ireland. Deputy McGuinness described a level of investment, but there was underinvestment for 15 years. Our water services are disastrous. Doing nothing is not an option. It is unfortunate the Deputy has departed.

Much of this situation has to do with the abolition of rates and the lack of strategic planning for a proper service. We have ended up with a patchwork system that has not received enough investment or been subject to proper planning. This is the legacy with which we have been left. Consider the most recent two winters when many areas of Dublin went without water for weeks. This situation is no longer viable. The capital and the Dublin region operate on a 1% margin. In fact, they run a deficit from Monday to Friday and build up a surplus at the weekend. City regions are drivers of employment and investment and we will not be able to attract foreign direct investment, FDI, if we do not invest in this regard. We need a sustainable investment model. Supply shortages in Dublin must be addressed soon. Deputy Catherine Murphy mentioned how County Kildare was a high usage area. Even if we wanted to attract another Intel to the Dublin region, we would not have the requisite water supply. Consider the thousands of jobs involved.

People refer to austerity, but we need a sustainable infrastructure to provide jobs. We must adopt a strategic approach to water. The development of a properly regulated and resourced new utility company is the best and cheapest approach. Irish Water will be a sustainable model.

Deputy Troy mentioned how we did not know how much leakage there was between the mains and the door, but we do. It is 18%. This is on record. If we fix every leak in the country without addressing that problem, we will still lose 18%. When every mains pipe in a small area in the Dublin region - the Merrion Road area - was replaced, there was still a high leakage rate. The cause was subjected to further investigation and is now on record. Two or three houses were using up to ten or 15 times the average amount of water. This problem was addressed.

We must work in partnership with residents when addressing leaks. Given that we are considering metering and upgrading the infrastructure, it may be possible to give grants to fix leaks while workers are in the area. The possibility of 2,000 jobs has been mentioned. These should be given to young people. Under EU regulations, sectors with high rates of unemployment can be targeted, and there is a high rate among young people.

Doing nothing is not an option. Every Deputy who has contributed agrees we cannot continue as we have been. However, we cannot use all the money to fix the leaks. If we do not set up a sustainable method of funding that work, we will revert to the same position in ten or 15 years time because of the lack of constant servicing. There needs to be a revenue stream as well as ongoing infrastructural repairs, upgrades and investments. Water gives us an economic advantage and we need to make the best we can out of it.

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