Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Seamus Healy has made the case for the introduction of Irish Water or the Irish water board. In 2014, we cannot continue with 18,000 families having to boil water and having boil water notices issued to them on a regular basis. That is not on anymore. We cannot have a situation where up to 1,000,000 homes are the subject of intensive inquiries from the Environmental Protection Agency because of the inadequacy of the water system, nor can we have 40% of water produced, which the people pay for, leaking into the ground. As an example, some 60,000 litres of water leaked away from one house in Galway last year. This is not sustainable.

Given the extent of rainfall we have naturally, this should not be the case. If people are not in a position to consume the water that flows through the pipes, it cannot be allowed to continue. In the next couple of weeks, the Government will bring to the House the financial and structural model under which Irish Water will operate and it will include a very clear analysis and presentation of how this will operate, the extent of the charges that will apply, the follow through on the use of an allowance of water and the charge thereafter. The Government has taken this into account. It is in the interests of Irish Water being able to operate as a semi-State entity and being able to borrow money on the open market for real investment in the network of piping that is being retained in public ownership so that people do not have to boil water and so that we do not have 1 million houses under threat and so that businesses can say they will have an adequate supply of pristine, high-quality water. In all my time in here, I have listened, year after year, to people speaking about leaking pipes, asking why there is not a national scheme to fix it once and saying that, for a country that is able to build the rest of the world, surely we should be in a position to provide adequate water for people, consumers and businesses. This is putting in place a structure to carry us through the next 50 years. That is the reason for Irish Water and the financial and structural business model will set out all the details in the coming weeks.

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