Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

A new recruitment drive already is under way, in which staff in the local authorities are being invited to avail of jobs in a secondment process to Irish Water. A total of 80 positions are on offer at present, covering 15 different categories and grades of work. These jobs are being advertised for engineers at various levels and qualifications below those at which such people would work in the local authorities. People are being recruited for a junior engineering position but are being asked to undertake work that would be done by someone at a higher grade in the local authority. A process of downgrading jobs and so on already is under way and certainly, were I a union official in the local authorities, I would be advising staff to boycott that process.

The entire premise on which Irish Water was established was based on the so-called independent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. However, as has been articulated in this House many times previously, that report was not independent but was seriously flawed in that the conclusions reached on the reason Irish Water was needed were based on a false analysis of Scottish Water. Incorrect information was submitted with regard to the scale of the water pipe infrastructure in Scotland and incorrect figures also were given for the workforce inside Scottish Water. Although these points have been challenged previously in this House, the Minister simply shrugged his shoulders and basically ignored the figures.

In the aforementioned report, which led to the foundation of Irish Water or the Government's decision to set it up as a so-called independent entity, one was told the reason it was necessary to do this was there is a demand from investors for clean water supplies. There is absolutely no basis to the argument that any investor has ever shunned Ireland because of a lack of clean water. Moreover, one was told that climate change is leading to a threat in Ireland's water supplies.

Water that is unaccounted for and a lack of rainwater harvesting in public buildings is more of a threat to our water supply than the fact that we have not yet established Irish Water. The population projections given are more suited to the Celtic tiger years than the reality of population growth in the coming period. The establishment of Irish Water is not necessary to achieve compliance with the EU water framework and the work could be done based on the expertise that already exists within local authorities. I will not repeat the points made by Deputy Pringle.

This legislation will allow the Government to introduce water meters under a con and environmental cover, with the idea that it will eventually lead to water conservation. This is completely and utterly false. Perhaps I will finish up now and we can revisit the debate at another time.

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