Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The State is rapidly centralising the provision of essential services. County and town councils previously held responsibility for the provision of such services. In the past, local authorities were responsible for administration in the areas of education, health and transport. Now, another of their core responsibilities, namely, the provision of quality water and the treatment and disposal of wastewater, is to be taken away. As a former councillor, I am in a position to state that the local authorities in my county did an excellent job at all times. Those authorities have a great track record and their staff are extremely dedicated. In addition, they have in place very good administrative structures to assist in the delivery of services. I am sorry the responsibility for the provision of water is to be removed from local authorities and I am obliged to wonder what will happen in my county.

There are many reasons local authorities should retain responsibility for water. In the first instance, they are close to the consumer base, they are accountable and in time of need or emergency they can mobilise the necessary staff and resources to cope with disruptions to supply or whatever. The latter was illustrated when we experienced freezing weather during the winters of 2010 and 2011, when they ensured that households and communities continued to have access to water supplies on a round-the-clock basis. The staff of the local authorities displayed their flexibility by maintaining supplies to communities, hospitals, etc. During these prolonged periods of freezing weather, maintenance crews carried out what was more or less a fire-brigade action. When public water mains burst, in many cases they accessed supplies directly via the gate valves of those mains and members of the public were then able to fill up their containers and bring them home. That was a wonderful example of the role local authorities and their experienced and flexible staff play in their areas.

During the spells of weather to which I refer, some 80,000 houses just over the Border from the Minister of State's constituency of Louth were left without water as a result of burst mains and depleted reservoirs. Northern Ireland Water was obliged to import supplies from County Louth. Tankers loaded with water were sent across the Border from Drogheda and Dundalk. The Northern communities to which I refer experienced serious disruption as a result of what happened. The level of public outrage was such that the then chief executive of Northern Ireland Water, Mr. Lawrence MacKenzie, who had been in the position for only 12 months, was forced to step down. The catastrophe to which I refer was attributed to the fact that Northern Ireland Water lacked the necessary resources or personnel. In most, if not all, counties on this side of the Border, adequate services were provided during the period in question. This was due to the efficiency and flexibility of highly experienced local authority staff. As stated, these people worked around the clock and ensured that essential services were maintained to the best possible degree in the extremely harsh conditions which obtained.

In the region of 1.3 million eligible properties are to be fitted with water meters. Until those meters are installed, there will be an assessed charge and this will be based on average usage. The final figure is still to be decided and I presume responsibility in this regard will fall to the regulator. Irish Water is expected to have a charging mechanism in place by January 2014. At that stage, only 160,000 to 200,000 houses will have had meters installed. I urge the Government to request that Bord Gáis and Irish Water source the water meters and boundary boxes to be installed from manufacturers in the Republic of Ireland. This would give rise to huge spin-off benefits and would lead to the creation of thousands of badly needed jobs. The latter would be additional to those of the 1,000 employees of Irish Water who will install these meters and boundary boxes.

Several categories of customer will experience difficulties in meeting the cost of water charges. Such charges were scrapped in 1997. I presume it is at the behest of the troika that they are being reintroduced. This is happening at the worst possible time for members of the general public who are being asked to cope will all sorts of additional costs. Many citizens find the going tough and it is unfortunate that water charges are being reintroduced. If anything, these charges are just a further austerity measure. The Government should urge Irish Water - I do not know whether the regulator could take a hand in this regard - to be humane, fair and lenient in its dealings with customers.

I hope the free water allowance, which is available in the commercial sector, will be substantial because that will be a help to people. That matter should be given priority.

The legislation should provide for exceptional circumstances to ensure there will be waivers or reductions for householders on low incomes, people with health problems, those experiencing mortgage difficulties etc. In the past local authorities successfully implemented waiver charges for the many services they provided.

The leakage rates are at 42%, which is twice the OECD average. There should be provision in the Bill for Irish Water to tackle that huge drainage of available resources, in conjunction with the fitting of the meters. Where installers detect problems of leakage in the vicinity of the meters they should rectify those and replacements should be put in place while the work is ongoing and in a timely fashion.

With the envisaged prolonged timeframe for meter installation by Irish Water at a cost of €1 billion, householders should be given the option to install their own meters. Any householder who opts for such an arrangement would have to work to a specification in terms of the quality and type of meter etc. and adhere to guidelines. That could be worked out, and when completed the householders could be reimbursed over a number of years by way of a reduction in their water bills.

Regarding the replacement of lead piping, there is great concern among those in the medical profession and householders about deficient lead pipes both in terms of the major leakage they cause and the chemicals present in them.

I presume small sewerage schemes will come under Irish Water. In County Kerry alone there are about 40 villages waiting on treatment plants and sewerage schemes to be provided and I ask that that would be expedited. There are some in my locality including the villages of Scartaglin, Curra, Kilcummin and several others. Castleisland needs a spur addition to its existing sewerage scheme because only septic tanks are available in those extended areas on the outskirts of the town including College Road and in Tullig. A plan must be put in place at an early date for the new extension to the scheme to address that problem for the householders, particularly before the introduction of septic tank charges and inspections.

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