Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is opposed to the Sinn Féin Private Members' Bill before the House this evening. I never cease to be amazed by that party's capacity repeatedly to table ill-judged and badly-timed motions and Bills. Its members' collective amnesia is quite astounding. Have those sitting opposite not been listening to the recent statements from the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, and other Ministers and Deputies regarding the imminent announcement on water charges? Are they concerned that if they wait until tomorrow, their thunder will be stolen? Is this another attempt, in line with their deputy leader's stunt in this House last Thursday, to deflect attention from the real issues facing their party?

Having said all that, I thank the Sinn Féin Party for the opportunity it has provided me to detail the significant reform programme under way in the water sector. While an extra 24 hours would have allowed us to debate the water charges package the Minister will bring to Government tomorrow morning for its approval, it is no harm to place on the record the actions this Government has taken to ensure security of supply and improve the quality of drinking water for future generations in this country.

Before doing so, however, I will first address the disgraceful events that transpired over the weekend and last night. I absolutely condemn this deplorable behaviour. I acknowledge that people have concerns and some feel driven to protest. It is perfectly acceptable to protest in an effective and peaceful manner. However, persons involved in recent events have sought to undermine and disrespect the democratic process and the opportunity to have an open discussion and debate on all the issues involved. Their actions amount to targeted intimidation of public representatives and those working with them. As such, they are absolutely unacceptable. The office in Nenagh of the Minister, Deputy Kelly, was contacted yesterday and a bomb threat was made. That is totally unacceptable in any mature democracy. I expect every public representative, from all parties and none, to condemn strongly any such threats. On Saturday, what should have been a happy and celebratory event at Jobstown turned into a terrifying ordeal for all those involved. Were the rights of those graduates and their families even considered? It was a very special day for them but it turned into a horrible scene for all involved. I have seen no remorse or apology from Deputy Paul Murphy in regard to what happened on Saturday. In fact, in an interview today he suggested that it would have amounted to peaceful action to keep the Tánaiste trapped in a car for more than 12 hours.

There is no place in a democracy for what happened in Jobstown at the weekend or in Sligo yesterday evening. The majority of people living in those places are decent law-abiding citizens and would agree with me on that. In recent weeks we have seen attacks and veiled threats against public representatives, editors of national newspapers and members of the Garda Síochána. These targets represent some of the fundamental pillars of our democracy. As democratically elected Members of Parliament, we must ensure those pillars are protected and their members allowed to operate without fear or intimidation. I say to each Member of this House who acts from a sense of decency and goodwill that we can have no àla cartedemocrats in Dáil Éireann. We have had a glimpse of anarchy on our streets and it was not a welcome sight. There is a place for peaceful protest in a democracy but, ultimately, it is for the people to judge us at the ballot box and decide whom they wish to elect.

I will shortly address the specifics of the Sinn Féin proposal. Before doing so, I draw Members' attention to one of the many untold aspects of the Irish Water story, namely, that group of people who have been affected in an extreme way by this controversy. Regardless of one's position on water charges, it is important to highlight their story, which has been drowned out by the wider noise around this issue. I am referring to the workers contracted with Irish Water to install meters, people who are just trying to earn a living. I call on all Members of this House to condemn the unacceptable behaviour these workers have had to endure.

I accept that the majority of protests are carried out in a peaceful manner and most people would be horrified by the prospect of some of what has occurred. However, before coming to the House this evening, I asked people at Irish Water to tell me the types of incidents that have occurred. What I was told makes for a harrowing and horrifying tale. For example, meter installers have been followed home and, in one case, this led to an assault that involved a worker being bitten. In fact, in the region of 50 assaults have been reported, with workers being punched, kicked and headbutted. Hot water has been thrown on some installers. Tyres have been slashed on a number of work vehicles, including at the homes of team members. Some protesters have driven their cars at metering staff and at barriers behind which staff are working or while they have been operating heavy machinery. Workers have been spat at, had objects hurled at them from glass to stones, and been hit with hammers and shovels. There has been verbal abuse and threats of violence. There has been a heavy and persistent level of online intimidation and encouragement of cyberbullying and physical abuse towards team members. Social media have been used to find the names and addresses of workers. We have instances where workers have been intimidated by the use of false firearms. In one case, installers were held in a van for more than 12 hours without access to food, water or toilet facilities.

What form of protest is that? To deny someone the right to food and water for 12 hours is not a protest; it is a form of thuggery. I accept that people are angry and frustrated, but there is no justification whatsoever for this type of behaviour in a democratic society. I ask colleagues to join me in condemning this behaviour in the strongest terms. More than 1,300 people are employed on the water metering programme and the social inclusion commitment means that some 400 of these are people who were previously on the live register.

Let me remind Deputies of the purpose and benefits of installing meters. They help households to monitor their consumption, give vital consumption data for planning purposes and, most important, help us to identify leaks. In recent months, Members of the Opposition, including the authors of this motion, have declared repeatedly in this House that they would fix the leaks first before metering. What they have never explained, however, is how they would find these leaks without water meters. Given that a huge number of leaks are invisible and approximately 11% of all households are finding leaks, how would Sinn Féin propose to identify such leaks without meters? Are Members opposite really saying they would spend money running cameras through the country's pipework in an effort to identify leaks? That is not realistic. There are 20 households in Ireland leaking over 1 million of litres a day into their driveway. That is enough per household to serve the town of Gorey with water for a day. Sinn Féin Members, however, say they know where all the leaks are and will fix them without meters. Let me be absolutely clear - it is impossible to find, identify and fix such leaks without meters.

Moreover, that is not the only aspect of its water policy that Sinn Féin has backwards. The party's Deputies believe in paying their bills until they lose a by-election. Deputy Gerry Adams was enjoying the moral high ground, saying he would pay his water bill, before conveniently changing tack following the Dublin South-West by-election. This was an effort to outflank the fragmented far left of the Irish political spectrum. As we all know, Deputy Adams has no problem changing his tune to get himself out of trouble.

I will now set out the background to the water charges package the Minister plans to announce tomorrow. It is a package that will deliver the certainty the public has been seeking regarding the affordability of water charges. I look forward to debating our proposals during the course of the week. I acknowledge that mistakes have been made as we have attempted to roll out the reforms at a pace unprecedented anywhere in the world. The scale of the endeavour to set up a new water utility is enormous. While the memorandum of understanding agreed with the troika was the context for the speed in passing water services legislation last December, it is now accepted that the guillotining of the Bill did not best serve any of our purposes. Put simply, the timelines for the full establishment and operation of Irish Water were too ambitious and the charging structure has proved to be too complex. This has led to confusion, uncertainty and dissatisfaction among the public.

The Government has listened to people's concerns and they will be addressed in the water charges package to be announced tomorrow. This will bring the necessary certainty by introducing a charging system that is clear and affordable. Householders will know exactly how much they will be required to pay.

There will be adequate supports for all and payment options will be flexible.

The Government has a clear vision for the reform of water services in this country. The central planks of the water reform programme, namely, a new national water utility, a sustainable funding model and independent economic regulation, have been considerably advanced. The objectives of the programme are to protect public health, increase economic competitiveness and conserve our environment. Ireland needs a clean, reliable drinking water supply and coastal waters, rivers and lakes that are free of pollution.

As water resources become more critical, due to economic recovery, population growth and climate change, increased infrastructural investment and improved service delivery are needed. Future challenges also make the need for a more cost-effective, efficient, national-oriented system imperative. Our population is growing, and is forecast to continue growing in the coming decades. Our economy is recovering, bringing with it added water demand for industry and agriculture. Clean water is expensive both to produce and manage. There is a complex process involved in turning raw water into clean drinking water and treating waste water so that it can be reintroduced back into our environment. The traditional water services system was deficient, inadequate and in need of fundamental change. Ireland's previous funding model was unsustainable. Despite the good work of the local authorities, decades of underinvestment in water services has resulted in many significant issues in the system. The ever rising standards in water and wastewater quality have required a radical transition from relatively low-technology, labour-intensive plants to much more complex technologies requiring increasingly advanced operational control.

The answer lies in more aggregated service delivery giving economies of scale, the required specialisation, standardisation and cost efficiencies in procurement and capital delivery. All citizens deserve the same quality water service, and we need particularly to address the situation of people who are on boil water notices. The only way deficiencies could be rectified, the infrastructure deficit removed, quality problems addressed and inefficiencies tackled was by creating a single, national utility and a new funding model. The single utility model, with local and regional structures, will deliver these changes. This is one of the most ambitious reform programmes undertaken in the history of State and will deliver significant benefits for customers in the medium to long term.

Historical underinvestment means we have a water services system which is failing both customers and taxpayers, and this is no longer tenable. The level of investment required to bring our systems up to date runs to billions of euro. The Government has agreed on a funding model that will allow subvention of Irish Water to help the public offset some of the direct cost of funding water services, while designing the model in a way that allows Irish Water to operate commercially. The new funding model, which includes domestic water charges, allows us to address these legacy issues and provide new infrastructure for the future. As a commercial utility, Irish Water can borrow from the markets in a similar way to the ESB and Bord Gáis. In broad terms, if Government support is not more than 50% of Irish Water's operational revenue, it will be considered under EUROSTAT rules to be a commercial undertaking. This will mean debt raised by Irish Water to fund capital will not count as Government debt and will be more favourable in terms of our general Government deficit than funding through direct Exchequer funding.

The Commission for Energy Regulation has permitted Irish Water to spend up to €1.77 billion on its capital programme over the period ahead if funding can be accessed. We could not afford this level of investment through the traditional model without significant budget impacts in terms of taxation or cuts to other areas of spending. As in other OECD countries, domestic water charges form an important part of the funding model for water services. For this reason, we need to move to a system where funding comes directly from those who use it, thus creating a real emphasis on sustainable use of this precious, expensive resource. Already through the domestic metering programme, we are seeing an emphasis on identifying customer-side leakage, which accounts for some 5% of the national leakage rate of up to 49%. This is an emphasis on reducing leakage never seen before in Ireland, and will be accompanied by a customer focus on conservation and sustainable usage in the long term that should bring consumption down by an estimated 10% to 15%.

The Government's reforming vision has meant challenges for all involved, but there are also significant benefits from the reforms. With the new funding model for the sector, we will see the increased infrastructural investment needed to improve water quality in areas where it does not meet the desired standards. Other priority objectives will also be achievable as a result of the new funding model. These include reducing the unacceptably high levels of leakage, ensuring our wastewater treatment plants meet the required effluent standards and increasing water supply capacity to meet future demands to support population and economic growth. It is only with increased capital investment, which will have to double in the coming years from this year's level of €310 million, and new approaches to service delivery and planning that we can achieve these objectives. I have already mentioned the critical need to ensure security of supply. This is particularly important for sectors that rely on large supplies of water such as the food and drinks industry, the IT sector and the pharmaceutical sector, among others. Securing our water supplies is also critical for the protection of our environment and to safeguard public health.

An independent assessment published in 2012 reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of the delivery of water services through 34 local authorities, and concluded that there was a fragmentation of leadership and co-ordination, difficulty in attaining economies of scale, difficulty in delivering projects of national importance and an aging and poor quality network. The report concluded that the best way of ensuring increasing efficiency and effectiveness of operations and capital investment and accessing new finances for the water sector was to establish Irish Water as a public utility. The establishment of Irish Water is a critical long-term project for this country and of absolute economic necessity. It will become among the largest utilities in the history of the State and is absolutely necessary for a safe and secure supply of water into the future.

I will now turn to the subject of the Sinn Féin Bill. While I have acknowledged that mistakes were made, the establishment of Irish Water was not one of them. The water system needs a national utility to manage it, finance its upgrade and deliver a water system that is fit for purpose. The transformation programme under way is significant and involves both funding and organisational changes. Each of these would be significant undertakings in their own right. The public has the right to honest debate. There is no evidence to support the propaganda of a privatisation agenda. Devoid of any substantive arguments, Opposition politicians have resorted to propagating this myth. As evidenced from a recent debate in the Seanad on Irish Water, it is clear that all parties in both Houses support public ownership of water infrastructure. Everyone should acknowledge this and put the public at ease.

This Bill proposed by Sinn Féin is flawed in a number of ways. First, the proposed amendment of the Constitution would create a constitutional right to water without taking any account of costs or implications for private property rights and without any specific requirement for people to pay for water. This runs counter to the United Nations policy which seeks to guarantee people the right to "affordable" water. These issues need to be properly considered and thought through. We do not want to find ourselves in a situation where we have damaged the rights of owners of private property.

Second, the latter part of the amendment would create a constitutional requirement that water services and infrastructure remain in public ownership. Existing legislation already provides a statutory prohibition on the disposal of Irish Water and its water services infrastructure. I would not consider it an appropriate approach to amend the Constitution to provide for a prohibition on the privatisation of a utility company. I agree in principle that everyone, wherever located, should have access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. However, enshrining individual rights in the Constitution is extremely complex and would require detailed legal analysis before it could be supported. The costs to the State and individual citizens of providing for such a right would need to be examined. The effect on property rights of individual citizens and the effect on privately owned group water schemes would also need consideration. There are more than 500 private group water schemes in the State and more than 1,500 small private supplies and private wells that service almost 12% of the population. These matters would all have to be carefully analysed before any proposal could be considered. I would also like to point out to Deputies that the last time we were bounced into a rushed constitutional change, we ended up with the Eighth amendment of the Constitution in the 1980s, and nobody wants to go back there.

The Water Services Act 2013 provides for the establishment of Irish Water as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis Éireann, conforming to the conditions contained in the Act and registered under the Companies Acts.

Section 5 of the Act provides that one share in Irish Water shall be issued to Bord Gáis Éireann, now Ervia, with the remaining shares allocated equally between the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Finance. As Ervia is a fully State-owned company, Irish Water is accordingly in full State ownership.

Subsection 5(6) of the Act, as amended by section 46 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013, prohibits each of the three shareholders from disposing of their shareholding in Irish Water and thus places a statutory prohibition on the privatisation of Irish Water.

There is a further statutory provision which safeguards water services infrastructure in public ownership. Section 31(12) of the Water Services Act 2007 prevents Irish Water from entering into any agreement or arrangement with another person which involves, or may involve, the transfer of assets and infrastructure from Irish Water to that person.

Irish Water was established as a public utility under the Water Services Act 2013 to ensure that public water services would be provided in an efficient and sustainable manner. There was no intention to establish this company in order to make the privatisation of public water services an option in the future. The legislation is clear on the Government's intention to keep Irish Water in public ownership and accountable to the Oireachtas.

The commitment to public ownership of water services was enshrined in 2007 legislation and then reaffirmed in the legislation passed before the end of 2013. Yet the myths about privatisation continue. All parties in both Houses support public ownership of water infrastructure. Once again, I would like to state categorically that Irish Water is, and will remain, in full State ownership.

Furthermore at EU policy level, the European Commission stated in January 2013 that imposing privatisations on public authorities in member states would be contrary to the principles of the EU treaty and case law. Moreover, the Government's water sector reform programme has advanced in the context of an agreed memorandum of understanding with the troika.

Public ownership of water services is the will of the Irish people. As part of a Government package of water measures to be finalised this week, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, will propose to bring forward measures - through primary legislation rather than a constitutional amendment - which would bolster the existing legislative prohibition on privatisation.

It is critical that Irish Water performs as the Oireachtas and the public expect. The Government recognises that a number of concerns have arisen in the context of getting Irish Water fully up and running. There is a way to go before we have the world-class water system the public deserves, but we have already achieved much progress during this ambitious programme for reform.

For example, by Christmas of this year, boil water notices will be removed for the first time in 12 years in parts of Roscommon as a result of the creation of Irish Water. Next year, there will be an increase of €100 million in investment in water services infrastructure in the State.

The utility has already adopted a new approach towards asset management and capital projects planning. Evidence of this is the targeted €170 million saving through the proposed Ringsend waste water treatment plant upgrade as an alternative to plant extension. That is the cost of Irish Water's establishment saved in one strategic decision. Let me repeat that in one project Irish Water will save the entirety of its start-up costs.

I acknowledge that there have been failures in communication, in communicating key objectives and the benefits of the utility model to our people. Irish Water has acknowledged this also and has specifically apologised to customers and elected Members for these failings. I am ensuring that steps are being taken to remedy this.

Following legislation passed in 2013, the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, assumed responsibility for the independent economic regulation of public water services. The commission's work to date has demonstrated the importance and impact of independent, economic regulation. In the area of setting performance standards for the utility, the CER has already announced that it will conduct a partial, overall performance assessment of Irish Water to incentivise the utility to improve its performance in areas like service delivery. Irish Water will be required to publish the performance results. This will incentivise the company to improve its performance around a set of key metrics - for example, customer service scores, drinking water standards and environmental compliance. An overall performance assessment will commence from the beginning of the first full revenue review period in 2017.

The CER has also shown its independence in its examination of Irish Water's establishment and operational costs, as well as its capital plans. As outlined earlier, it rejected 5% of proposed establishment costs, 13.5% of operational costs and has set an overall reduction in costs of 8.2%. Operational costs will have to come down by 7% per annum and the same level of efficiency will be required in relation to non-committed capital costs. These cost reductions are aimed at ensuring that Irish Water's customers only pay charges to cover reasonable costs on the system.

Public engagement is a key component of economic regulation and, to date, the CER has held several public consultations on the issues of an economic regulatory framework, domestic and non-domestic tariff structures, a customer handbook, and a proposed water charges plan. A number of important public consultations lie ahead, not least on the proposed first fix policy, which will see customers' first leaks being fixed free of charge and consultation on all aspects of non-domestic charges.

The establishment of the CER as the independent economic regulator for Irish Water is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to ensure that the interests of customers are well represented. The CER has a statutory role in protecting the interests of customers of Irish Water. Ensuring measures are in place to safeguard and protect these interests is, and will remain, a high priority. The implementation of the comprehensive water services legislation enacted in 2013 will be kept under ongoing and active review to ensure that the CER has the necessary powers to protect the interests of customers.

Similar to the approach it has taken in the electricity and gas industries, the CER has required Irish Water to submit a customer handbook outlining the minimum requirements of customer service standards they will provide to their customers. The customer handbook comprises Irish Water's customer charter, codes of practice, and the terms and conditions of supply. These include standards in relation to the performance by Irish Water of its functions; the provision of information to customers of Irish Water for the purposes of enabling customers to communicate with Irish Water; methods of payment of water charges; and any other matters that the commission considers necessary and appropriate to secure

Furthermore, the CER and Irish Water have also agreed to enter into a voluntary dispute resolution agreement which will set out agreed working arrangements and processes to deal with customer disputes. In addition, the CER will engage with both Irish Water and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, to develop complementary complaints processes to ensure customers are directed in an efficient manner to the appropriate organisation with their complaint or query.

Independent regulation is the key element of this model, as it ensures that Irish Water's costs are scrutinised and that challenging efficiency targets are set. The Commission for Energy Regulation, taking account of international benchmarks and the experience of start­ups of other utilities, has set a challenging target of a 7% reduction per annum in Irish Water's overall operational costs.

The citizens of Ireland deserve a high quality, reliable water supply. The European Union has set quality standards to which we are obliged to adhere. The European Communities (Drinking Water) Regulations 2014 detail the chemical and microbiological parameters that must be met by suppliers of drinking water, including Irish Water.

The EPA is the supervisory authority with responsibility for monitoring Irish Water's compliance with the regulations. The procedures to be followed where there is non-compliance with parameter values are clearly laid out in the regulations.

In parallel with the Government's work on water charges, Irish Water is working to improve its engagement with customers and public representatives. Already it has adjusted resources in its customer call centre so that the public receives quicker response times when calling to register or seek information. This reallocation of resources has already resulted in a more positive initial engagement and average customer response times have dropped to below 20 seconds.

Irish Water is also strengthening its engagement with elected representatives. It has opened dedicated telephone lines for Oireachtas Members and councillors, and provides a fortnightly newsletter and weekly clinics for Oireachtas Members. This is an important outlet for Members to receive information on behalf of constituents about issues such as capital improvements, drinking water quality or customer interactions with the utility.

The establishment of a unified Ervia/lrish Water Board presents an opportunity to reinvigorate the organisation so that it becomes significantly more customer-focused in its operations and communications. The Ervia Group and Irish Water are actively reviewing their communication strategy to better reflect the needs of all stakeholders, including elected Members.

The Government's vision is for a country in which every household and business connected to the public water system has a high quality, reliable water supply. To achieve this we must invest heavily in our infrastructure, reduce leakage levels and address deficiencies in our waste water treatment systems. The Irish economy of today needs certainty of supply for its recovery, but the economy of tomorrow can be even stronger if we position Ireland as a water-secure economy for water-intensive industries, an advantage that will become more important as other countries struggle with their supplies.

There is global desperation about water and we must work hard to avoid experiencing this danger. Through the reform vision we are implementing, new thinking and partnerships between those with ideas and expertise, we can make Ireland a shining example of sustainable water management, bringing with it greater environmental and economic security.

I have outlined to the House the details of the Government's actions within the short period it has been at the helm and its focus on the development of a sustainable water supply system into the future. The Government will continue to keep all matters relating to water sector reform firmly at the top of the agenda. The ineptitude of previous Fianna Fáil-led Governments in the management of our water infrastructure and supply placed many communities and businesses in unenviable positions. The Government will not be found wanting in dealing with their plight. For the reasons detailed, without hesitation I oppose the Bill before the House.

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