Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government has rightly criticised Fianna Fáil on many occasions with regard to the way in which it established the HSE. In 2005 the then Fianna Fáil-led Government had an opportunity to establish an efficient and effective health service but it blew that opportunity for political gain. Instead, it created a bureaucratic monster. The current Government is now doing exactly the same thing with Irish Water. It is establishing a new monster that will waste billions of euro of taxpayers' money. In order to bankroll all of this waste, Irish Water will be obliged to overcharge the people for water for which they already pay. When Scottish Water was set up, it achieved cost savings of almost 40% in the first five years. It did so by getting rid of the inefficiencies in the system and creating a competitive market for the operation and maintenance of water infrastructure. In contrast, we have just learned that Irish Water is signing 12-year service level agreements with local authorities. In other words, it is locking in the cost relating to the existing workforce. This means that the money people will be obliged to pay in respect of their water will end up paying salaries for jobs that do not exist. It also means that there will be no room for Irish companies to bid and compete for work.

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, seems to believe that the idea of saving money in the first few years can be achieved only in a mythical country. He stated that we will see savings in approximately five or six years. Government Ministers are continually informing us that Irish Water exists in the commercial sector. I come from that sector and I have worked on mergers. In that context, I am in a position to state that the only mythical country around here seems to be the one in which the Government resides. If one attended a meeting relating to a multi-billion euro merger and stated that there would not be any cost savings for the following five years and that the workforce would be locked in for the following 12, one would be fired on the spot. However, that is not the case here. In this instance more than €500 million is being spent on the installation of water meters and almost €200 million is being spent on the establishment of Irish Water, the existing workforce is being signed up for 12 years, Irish companies are being blocked from tendering for work and the Government is maintaining that it will be at least five years before any savings are made.

Will the Taoiseach indicate why Irish Water is signing 12-year service level agreements? I could understand if it were signing three-year agreements in order to maintain integrity and to retain institutional knowledge but it is actually signing them for 12 years? Will the Taoiseach also indicate why Irish businesses are being locked out of the sector and why the Government is creating another monster in the form of Irish Water?

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