Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate, and I commend Deputy Cowen on moving the motion. Historical references are made in every debate in the House. Deputy Farrell referred to a document from the 1977 election manifesto but he omitted to tell the House that 75% of the rates were abolished by the previous Government and that only 25% of the rates were abolished by the incoming Government. That has been overlooked by many commentators the length and breadth of the country.

I wish to raise a number of issues.

People are outraged at the amount of money spent on the establishment of the quango that is Irish Water. There is a huge amount of expertise within the local authorities in terms of water service provision and a great deal of work has been done by them down through the years to improve services and so on.

The previous speaker spoke about group water schemes and the huge amount of effort in this regard by local communities. I have been involved with many group water schemes in my area where the underground water supply is of poor quality and would require a huge amount of treatment to make it fit for human consumption. In other areas supply is limited because of difficulties in reaching high ground. People in these areas came together, submitted an application for a group water scheme to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, in respect of which they received a grant per household. Following the initiative introduced by the previous Government some of these schemes also benefited from a top-up under CLÁR, which made what was an unaffordable scheme affordable to many communities in my area. The last water scheme put in place in County Cork was in the Lombardstown area, on which a huge amount of work was done. I compliment all those involved in that work. Many of these group water schemes do not know how they are fixed going forward. Some of these schemes, which are delivering water from the county council reservoirs to farms and homes, have not been taken in charge by the county council or Irish Water. This is creating major difficulties.

As I said earlier, people are concerned about the amount of money spent by Government on the establishment of Irish Water. In establishing this agency the Government is taking from local authorities a function for which they have been responsible since their foundation and have been executing well. Many previous speakers spoke of areas that do not have proper sewerage facilities. I compliment my predecessors in this House and on the county councils who worked diligently to ensure their communities were served by proper water and sewerage schemes. When I was elected to this House in 1997, only one village in north Cork did not have proper sewerage facilities. Thankfully, that was rectified soon afterwards.

Much work has been done and a great deal of expertise has been developed by the local authorities. There has been much commentary around the centralisation of the medical card system and the withdrawal of discretionary medical cards. Water is important for people on dialysis. A constituent of mine who has cancer is experiencing huge difficulties because of a leak in her water supply. These types of issues were dealt with compassionately by the local authorities. Giving responsibility for these issues to a giant quango will hurt people. It is time it was acknowledged that centralisation has a negative affect on rural communities. It is time to stop going this route.

Water charges were abolished in 1996 by a Fine Gael-Labour Party Government and are now being reintroduced by a Fine Gael-Labour Party Government. Many of the people who have come together and set up group water schemes do not now know where they stand. The vast amount of money wasted on setting up the giant quango that is Irish Water cannot be in any way deemed good for society or the country as a whole.

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