Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If there was no subvention as proposed by the Government, the average domestic charge would be €580. Service level agreements, etc., are matters for further discussion. I do not accept that there should be 12 year service level agreements and I have said as much in the House before. The Deputy should also take into account the prospective 25% reduction in staff over the next five years. It is possible to achieve significant savings. Clearly, the system which has evolved over the years is no longer fit for purpose and is costing the taxpayer €1.2 billion across 34 local authorities.

I point out to the Deputy that the EPA reports that remedial action is now required on 16% of supplies. Many of the at-risk schemes are very large and include schemes in Dublin and Cork which are the subject of official EPA reports. Deputy Donnelly is well aware of the significant supply constraint in a city as large and as rapidly growing as Dublin.

It is absolutely unacceptable that 40% of water is unaccounted for, or is leaking away into the ground. Some 36% of water treatment plants did not meet EPA effluent standards in 2011. The European Commission has launched a pilot infringement case against Ireland in respect of 80 treatment plants. The State would not be in a position to deal with these infrastructural requirements without the advent of Irish Water, which is able to borrow to fund these things. The Government has decided to implement the "user pays" principle. We want to adopt that principle to make the system as flexible, affordable and equitable as possible. When the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government brings his proposition to the Cabinet, the Government will be perfectly entitled to consider it. It has a duty to talk about all of these issues. It has a responsibility to adhere to the principle of fairness and affordability in what is done here.

As I have said, the metering programme is continuing with an average of between 27,000 and 30,000 meters being installed every month. All of these issues will be discussed and decided on by the Government in the next short time. The CSO has explained the rules in the EUROSTAT context. The maximum subvention in 2015-16 is €535 million, giving an average metered charge of €240 per household to be divided through the quarters as a utility measure. The Government's focus will be on the details of how this can be made as affordable and as fair as possible, in the knowledge that this is the last of the major decisions it has to impose on people. I recognise that this is always difficult. We have to deal with it in the context of how far behind this country is in terms of water quality and the water supply infrastructure. We will try to deal with it now in as fair and as affordable a way as we can.

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