Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate on this issue. I have always been in favour of people paying for water. It is a finite resource and it costs a lot of money to produce. That message has not been clearly set out when explaining why we are introducing charges through Irish Water. I also favour having a unified body. Kildare County Council is actually paying Dublin City Council for water that is produced in Ballymore and Leixlip; most of the water derives from County Kildare.

I am happy to note that the legislation specifies that this will not become a private company and will be held within the public domain for as long as the Government decides.

A number of issues have been associated with Irish Water and one of the main ones that has boggled me all along is the communication. As Deputy Cowen will know, when Bord na Móna has an issue, Gabriel D'Arcy is out front and when Bord Gáis Éireann has an issue its CEO is out front explaining the problems. We have seen the disappearance of the Irish Water CEO, Mr. John Tierney. He rarely comes forward to explain the situation and when he does come forward to explain something, it leads to more confusion. This needs to be changed dramatically. We need to have a positive communications strategy from Irish Water. It is very simple from my perspective. I can explain to people who come to me why PPS numbers are required. Why can that message not be put out there?

Irish Water has created a bonus culture and we are getting mixed messages associated with that. Given that there are no protocols between Irish Water and local authorities, some estates cannot be taken into charge. People are asking me who they should contact to get a light fixed or a footpath repaired because the estates are owned by developers who are bust. Local authorities cannot take them in charge because there are no protocols with Irish Water. I hope the Minister of State will relay this message because I have raised the issue with the previous Ministers on a number of occasions.

There should be an assessed charge until all the meters are rolled out. Until the people can believe that a world-class delivery of water service will be available, they should not be paying on the meter for water but on the basis of an assessed charge. As Deputy Nolan mentioned, we also need to take cognisance of families with students and the charge associated with that. I encourage the Government to have a cap on the payment for each such individual house.

See this speech in context