Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Standing Orders should be implemented throughout the debate. However, I will proceed.

First, I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, on their appointment and wish them well in the Department.

I welcome this important legislation introduced by Deputy Cowen, which provides that homeowners will have absolute assurance that they will not have to pay for a water supply that is contaminated. Ensuring that the onus is put on a public utility to provide a service that meets the required standards is a basic way of doing business. Irish Water will control an overwhelming part of the water supply to households, businesses, farms, public institutions and community facilities, and the proposals for charging for water are deeply unfair. It is abundantly clear that the network should be brought up to the required standards before households with substandard supplies are obliged to pay substantial charges for a product that is inferior.

Water charges will be collected from 1 October, with bills due in January 2015. Our party's spokesperson, Deputy Barry Cowen, made a detailed submission to the regulator, along with this legislation. It our basic contention that it should not be possible for Uisce Éireann to charge for a contaminated water supply. Try to explain to a hard-pressed household that it must pay the charge, which will be considerable, not for water that is not for consumption but for wastewater. Any fair minded individual will understand the anger, annoyance and frustration of such a household.

The energy regulator has denied any confirmation of the recent claims by Fine Gael relating to water-in and water-out contentions. This legislation brings absolute clarity and provides a way to deal properly with this issue. It is an issue that constituents bring to our attention as they require clarity about it. People are understandably very concerned about these new charges and the imposition of new additional costs on households, so there is an onus on the Government to ensure at least some fairness. If enacted, this legislation would ensure fairness. Apart from a partial payment by householders for contaminated supplies, those households have the considerable additional expenditure of purchasing bottled water, which is not cheap by any means. Public expenditure and the generation of revenue should be predicated on fairness. Fairness should be at the heart of central and local government decision making.

I wish to respond to a narrative that has been promoted by the Government in the last year or two, that there was a lack of investment in the period from 2000 to 2010. Almost €5 billion in public expenditure was provided by the Fianna Fáil Government for the upgrade and preservation of our water services during that period.

I refer to a matter which the Minister might clarify at some point in the future. I also raised it with his predecessor. It is the continuation of the subsidy for rural group water schemes. Thankfully, Fianna Fáil in government put in place a massive rural water upgrade programme. It encompassed not just rural group water schemes but also the schemes for smaller towns and villages. We must have an assurance that the subsidy, which is so important and was paid through the local authorities, will be continued and that a system of ensuring that rural households are not discriminated against will be put in place. Perhaps the Minister or Minister of State might reply to that concern.

I regret I do not have more time to speak but I will hand over to my colleague.

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