Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Back in 2009 the Fine Gael Party, in a policy document entitled NewERA, said it would bring all of Ireland's water assets under the ownership of one State company, Irish Water. Its document goes into considerable detail as to how Irish Water would be a super-lean and efficient operation in terms of organising the Irish water supply. Yesterday, we saw and read that the Fine Gael Deputies are now very angry with the utility they conceived of and how it has turned out, and I understand the Labour party had a meeting with Irish Water two weeks ago. Meanwhile, I understand the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht has written twice - or Deputy Cowen certainly has - asking to bring Irish Water before that committee, but that has not happened.

The basic point I want to put to the Tánaiste is this. I asked the Taoiseach yesterday in the House what he believed the net revenue estimate would be as a result of the imposition of water charges for domestic users - what he felt the Government would get in net revenue. He could not answer me. We have done our own calculations and we looked at responses to parliamentary questions which have come back from the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, who estimated there would be gross revenue of €300 million from domestic charges. Of course, that does not factor in the €65 million for the household benefits package or the €40 million for the tax credit, and I presume more will have to be done for the 200,000 people who are not covered by either the benefits package or the tax exemption. Therefore, even at 100% compliance, we are now looking at a net revenue figure of something like €175 million. If there is anything less than full compliance, we are looking at less than €150 million. Yet the Government has spent €650 million on the start-up costs of Irish Water. It has caused huge social upheaval, it is a gold-plated bureaucracy that is being paid for at an extraordinary level, which is really making people angry, and it has caused mayhem across local authorities, taking engineers out of every local authority in the country and swapping staff, with pension deals done to get people into Irish Water. One would have to stand back from it all and ask a very basic question. All of that for a net revenue of maybe €150 million plus-----

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