Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want Deputy Gerry Adams to understand that in the discussions we have had in recent weeks this issue was taken very seriously and engaged on constructively. The Government has issued a direction to the regulator stipulating that the subvention of €537 million is conditional on the average charge being €240 per year, or €60 per quarter. Taking into account the difficulties, hardship and challenges many people face and which I recognise, there are sectors that clearly require assistance. That assistance is being given in particular circumstances through the household benefit charge and the benefits for carers, those with a disability, those who are blind and so on. It is also taken into account that children obviously bring with them costs and charges in the daily running of a household. The Government has recognised this by providing extra assistance in that children are to be given a 38,000 litre allocation, which effectively makes all children under the age of 18 years free. There is an allowance of an extra €100 in the categories I have mentioned. A pensioner living alone, for example, will have 40% of his or her water needs covered by the free allocation of 30,000 litres. Together with the allocation of €100, this will mean that the pensioner's liability for the year will be approximately €138, or less than 50 cent per day.

It is obvious, although Deputy Gerry Adams does not want to recognise it, that water is a precious and scarce enough resource. It must be conserved and used well. It is probably the most abused natural resource in the country. Metering brings with it an incentive to conserve in that one can turn off the tap. In that sense, the Government has tried to make this measure as fair, affordable and incentivised as possible. Thus, people will understand they are in control of it. The allocation of the extra €100 will be to the benefit of pensioners, the elderly and those who receive benefits under the household benefits package. In addition, the Government will make available assistance in exceptional cases, as applies currently in the case of electricity and gas where the need arises.

The intention is to deal with the fact that 40% of water in the system is leaking away, thus costing the taxpayer €1.2 billion per year. We have inferior treatment works and pipework and there are 23,000 people subject to boil water notices. This needs to be dealt with. We have tried to make the contribution as fair and equitable as possible. The price point, by contrast with the figures of €2,000 and €3,000 that had been bandied about, is the lowest we can achieve without having to put the charge back on the Government's books. In that sense, the assistance decided on this morning by the Government, including Fine Gael and the Labour Party, was made available with a view to making the system as fair, equitable and incentivising of conservation as possible.

See this speech in context