Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is true. It is the intention of the Government to flog as many as possible of the semi-State companies that have made a profit for the State for many years. The same logic applies to sub-companies. It may not be espoused by the Minister of State today but it is the policy, and it is in line with a trend that has obtained since the Progressive Democrats were in power. They jumped into bed with Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party embraced fully the need to charge full whack for Irish water. Now the Fine Gael Government is continuing the trend. Regrettably, a party that in the past called itself left wing is jumping on the right-wing bandwagon in the belief that every utility must be paid for in full by a direct charge rather than through central taxation.

This charge will be a significant burden on many. The Minister of State may say the rate will be set quite low. We do not know what the charge per litre will be. At this stage, however, any extra euro taken from the income of many households is significant. More than 700,000 households are living in poverty, yet the Government is to heap upon them another utility charge. They have already paid for the utility but they will be charged again. The people are already struggling to make ends meet. I refer not only to those depending on social welfare because quite a number of those on low-paid jobs and some who were once in high-paid jobs are also struggling to make ends meet and cope with the fact that the Government has cut child benefit and increased VAT. They will be struggling if the property tax is imposed upon them. This tax takes no account of ability to pay. People are struggling to deal with the universal social charge. The affected families are the ones we think of when we note the great number of gas and electricity disconnections. These are the families in mortgage distress. On top of their existing charges, the Government will impose another charge, a charge for water, which they are already paying for through general taxation.

If the Minister applies the same logic that is being applied to the property tax, it will not be based on the ability to pay. I urge the Government to pull back from the brink on this. Water charges were introduced in the past and they were defeated by the public, for the same reason or logic that applies today. It is wrong and would be a form of double, if not treble, taxation. It is especially wrong now since the intention is to move towards privatisation.

When this concept was originally raised it was said it was a water conservation measure. I recall the Green Party saying how great it would be because we would save so much water. In fact, most of the leaks are not due to households. It is not households that are wasting water. Over the years a legacy has been built up of under-investment in the network of pipes and water treatment. Millions of litres are lost by local authorities because they do not have the money to invest. They have been starved of funds, especially those in Dublin city. Time and again they have asked for an increase in funding to ensure that the antiquated water pipe system in the city is brought up to standard, but they have not received it. Even though some other local authorities have not been able to spend their allocations, they have not been transferred to Dublin.

At present, the entire water system in Dublin could collapse. If the Vartry tunnel collapses, and it is now 200 years old and in need of immediate repair, Dublin city, the biggest population centre in the country, could be without water very quickly. That issue is not being addressed by the local authorities because the necessary investment has not been made over the years. Even if we address the Vartry tunnel problem as well as the failure to increase the capacity of the reservoirs around Dublin, that will not deal with water quality in the rest of the country or low water pressure, which is a problem for businesses and households. We still have lead pipes that are swollen and ready to burst, regardless of whether it is warm or cold.

These issues will not be addressed because the Minister will privatise the water and use the money he will extract from poor people in this country to fund the private system for the installation of water meters. His first port of call will be to install the water meters, spending the money on something that is not required at present. What is required is an immediate investment in the network. If the money was invested in that, it would pay dividends. Water would not be lost, people would have the required water pressure and they would not be running their taps. I do not deny that there is a need for conservation. There is a need for education in the schools. That could be done without any cost to the State by ensuring that local authority water conservation officers visit schools and teach the children about this. Some of that work has taken place because the local authorities have no other money to invest and it is their last resort. All of this should have been done for years. It should have been done by the last Government and every Fianna Fáil Government since the foundation of the State. Fine Gael and Labour Party Governments over the years have also not invested properly in the water treatment and water delivery systems.

Many aspects of water delivery to homes are not addressed. My colleague mentioned that 20 years later the British are still trying to grapple with how to install water meters in some homes. In Dublin, there are many instances of pipes being shared by houses. How is it to be decided which house will be metered and which will not? If I recall correctly, there is no intention of going onto private land. Not every house has its own feed from the public system. It is often a couple that gets the same feed. How will that be addressed?

At present, between 30% and 50% of the water is leaking out of the system.

See this speech in context