Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I did not think the time had gone so quickly. PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests:

once Irish Water is well established as a self-funding utility, the Government and Regulators may wish to assess international experience of the introduction of competition in water and sewerage services to identify whether Ireland could benefit from competitive markets in the water sector at a later date. With this in mind, [PricewaterhouseCoopers] recommend[s] that, when undertaking the detailed design of the new organisational structure for Irish Water, the possibility of future retail competition should be taken into account

This is clearly evident in this Bill, which provides that the Commission for Energy Regulation will set the prices and the tariff for water. This is giving that remove away from the control of the prices. Moreover, one should recall how the Commission for Energy Regulation has worked in the past. On its establishment in 1990, Ireland had the second cheapest electricity in Europe. Over the years, it has increased the price of electricity and approximately 67% of the overall increase therein is directly attributable to the Commission for Energy Regulation bumping up the price to make it more attractive for competition to come into this market. Is this what will happen in the future in respect of the pricing of water? Will the Commission for Energy Regulation bump up this price to entice water companies into this country to pitch for our utility?

On the legislation itself, I note section 5(4) provides for the distribution of shares in Water Ireland. It provides that one share shall be given to Bord Gáis and the remaining two shares should go to the Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Finance. While the Bill provides that Bord Gáis cannot sell its share without the approval of the Minister for Finance, what about the other two shares? There is no mention of how they might be disposed of and no restriction is placed on their disposal. The Government already has decided to sell off Bord Gáis and the retail network. In the future Members will see that the Government will decide to sell off Water Ireland as well, as part of the break-up of Bord Gáis and the removal of our public utility.

The European Union rules are very clear in this regard. If one pays for a service or commodity, it must be opened up for competition. Consequently, the Minister of State should come clean to the House, through this Bill, as to what are the Government's future intentions. If the intention is to retain Water Ireland in public ownership, that should be included specifically in the Bill and provisions made to ensure it cannot be removed from public ownership.

See this speech in context