Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Cowen on this Bill. While I enjoyed Deputy Durkan's interesting contribution, he was wrong in his comment on the charges. It is my understanding that the Fine Gael-Labour Government abolished water charges while forgetting about group water schemes. It took the former Minister and Deputy, Mr. Noel Dempsey, to introduce a subsidy for water schemes to ensure equality and equity across the country and to help people in rural Ireland.

The current Government has put the cart before the horse by introducing a regime of water charges before bringing the water network up to standard. The Bill proposes a simple measure, namely, that it would be illegal to charge for a service that did not deliver. This proposal should be supported. In County Roscommon alone, 21,000 people are living under a boil water notice. Across Ireland, the figure is approximately 36,000 homes. Families that have been dealing with the situation for many years are upset that this unfair system will be introduced.

The Bill introduced by Deputy Cowen is based on the principle of fairness. It is not just a question of substandard and dangerous supplies of water that need to be brought up to standard, but of the additional financial burden of buying drinking water on a daily basis. That water charges must also be paid is too much for hard-pressed families to bear.

Alongside the situation in Roscommon, I should highlight an issue in Galway, albeit one that does not relate to substandard water supplies. A headline inThe Connacht Tribuneon 12 September read: "No water - but here's your bill anyway". The article continued: "Residents in an East Galway village were furious to have received a notice from Irish Water asking for €100 per house ... for a supply that they do not have. And many residents contacted by The Connacht Tribune have vowed not to pay a penny to Irish Water as they are not connected to any scheme." The campaign to get a public water supply for Kilrickle has been ongoing for a number of years. Some of its residents collect rainfall while others have drilled their own wells. Like the people of Roscommon, they must buy water on a weekly basis. The bills from Irish Water were the ultimate slap in the face. There were proposals to bring water to Kilrickle from the Loughrea scheme, but there has been a great deal of confusion about the cost involved. This issue boils down to the fact that householders in Kilrickle must fend for themselves.

I also noted in last week's edition of The Connacht Tribunethat the Society of St. Vincent de Paul mentioned how people were unable to pay water charges. The society referred to the fact that the €240 promise made by the Government before the May election had increased by 20% to €278. The overall average cost to households will be €594. There is a general concern throughout the country that, if the public subsidy is steadily reduced, home owners will need to pay more every year.

The group water scheme movement and its organisers are concerned about the lack of clarity concerning their operations. The group scheme system has been strong in the west, with generous grants from the EU and the Department. However, if Irish Water must now supply water where no scheme is in existence, it begs the question of what will happen and whether money will be available to take over group schemes or provide water from public schemes.

The charge per litre is one of the highest in Europe. This is a source of concern. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul also made the point that the household benefit package was not targeted towards vulnerable people. The society believes that assistance should be directed to those who are in receipt of fuel allowance payments, thereby helping the elderly, the unemployed, one-parent families and people in receipt of disability allowance payments. This point was also made by the ESRI.

Clarity is needed in respect of charges where there is a substandard water supply and those that will apply to people with medical conditions. Irish Water has said there will be a 50% discount on the net bill for such people and the regulator has talked about a three-month threshold. The question of 12,000 households coming off boil-water notices this year is something that should be clarified, and we need more details on that.

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