Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It was depressing to listen to some of the contributions prior to Deputy Denis Naughten. The Irish Water board members should resign and, if not, should be sacked. The Minister did not mention the board although he mentioned at the press conference afterwards that new positions will be advertised tomorrow. The board, which should ensure policy is carried out notwithstanding that the legislation was naked in respect of policy, should resign forthwith. In so far as there is any crossover between the boards of Irish Water and Bord Gáis, the people involved should resign and, if they will not, they should be fired.

The Joint Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government should carry out an investigation on the debacle, starting with the Irish Water Forum and its various proposals, which may have been changed due to union involvement and intervention from various Ministers right up to today's announcement. If today's motion was tabled by the Technical Group, Sinn Féin or any other body in the House nine months ago, it would have been laughed out of court. It shows how bad things are that Government speakers welcome it while acknowledging the mistakes that were made. The motion is an indication of how poor the Government has been on this issue.

Just before Christmas Deputy Denis Naughten and I were debating the Bill in the House. It is a case of the ghosts of Christmas past. I see Deputy James Bannon is in the Chamber and he also came in on that day. I pointed out that the legislation would come back to haunt the Government. I am not being wise after the event. Deputies Michael McNamara and Michael Creed made contributions on behalf of the Government and Deputy Denis Naughten also spoke but received no airtime or coverage because Luke "Ming" Flanagan had carried out a stunt in the Dáil using a container of water from County Roscommon. That stunt does not serve political debate or the House well because it disguises the serious issues, which were not covered by the media. The serious flaws in the legislation were not covered until the marches took place, notwithstanding the fact that many Members from the Government side knew the situation after the local elections.

We arrived today because the Government showed a lack of respect for the House and, by extension, a lack of respect for members of the public. The Government did so by passing legislation with no detail and giving inconsistent and inaccurate information. Incorrect figures and allowances were given and we now have the laughable situation where some of the wealthiest people in the country, good luck to them, will end up in an enhanced financial position as result of the motion. People on group water schemes will end up being paid money for the privilege of taking water. The two main planks of Government policy were to repair the network and conserve water. I see neither policy in the motion, which I will not support.

Irish Water sprung from NewERA. The former Minister of State with responsibility for NewERA, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, was recently replaced, by whom I do not know. Do we have a Minister for NewERA? What has happened? It was one of the great planks of Government policy. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd penned an article outlining the shortcomings of this before the debacle and, from talking to people who were at the meetings, my understanding is that the Deputy pointed to the many shortcomings of the legislation, including the lack of detail, long before it was debated on the floor of the House. However, he was dismissed.

In 1863, when the Vartry scheme was introduced by the British to bring water to Dublin and the pipeline to Greystones and Bray, it was debated for five weeks in the House of Commons and seven days in the House of Lords. It caused difficulties but at least it was given time. It cost 12p for 800 gallons or less and 11p for every 1,000 gallons over that on a sliding scale. At least the debating time was given to it.

The Government has turned a good concept into a monster. If I leave my tap running or hose down my car while someone next-door conserves water, is it fair that we pay the same? I believe in the concept of water metering and water charges. I always believed in it on the basis of an educational timeframe and a grant scheme to enable the installation of grey water and dividing grey water and potable water in order that an individual knows how much grey water and potable water should be used on average. The potable water for basic necessities should be given free and anything above that, irrespective of what is used for, should be charged. The vast majority of people would have gone along with that. Our current scheme does not work, with over 34 authorities dealing with one utility. Can we imagine if there were 34 companies like Bord Gáis or the ESB? How the Government managed to make such a mess of it is indicative of the disdain in which it has held the public over recent years due to the large majority in the House. I hope the Government has learned a lesson and the arrogance reflected in the process ceases. With policy implementation in the coming year, I hope there will be a more humane approach with greater respect for members of the public. That is all the public asks. I do not believe the measures today will win political kudos for the Government. On the contrary, when the shortcomings of the legislation are picked out and people analyse how poor the policy is relative to what it should be, they will pass harsh judgment on the Government.

I know many of my former colleagues - they are fine individuals - will suffer as a result of the mistakes of a few, which I regret. A few in the Cabinet have collective responsibility for this difficulty.

There are a few specific issues I would like to raise. Deputy Denis Naughten mentioned the commercial position and I submitted a parliamentary question yesterday dealing with commercial responsibility being handed over in 2015. I could not ascertain from the response what would be the charges but in his speech today, the Minister indicated that the regulator would decide a charge. Wicklow has the highest charge per cubic metre in the county and there is a very high standing charge. The charges should be standardised. In places like Arklow - and there are 20, 30 or 40 such places around the country - there is no proper sewerage scheme in place so where do the people in those towns stand? The Oireachtas cannot be treated like this.

I emphasise that the board should be sacked. Violence has taken place and I find it reprehensible that some Members did not have the decency to condemn the violence that we saw not alone in Tallaght but in many locations. People have deliberately manipulated the vast majority of decent, honest people who wish to protest in a peaceful but they have been let down by so-called political leaders.

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