James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

After many long weeks and months discussing Irish Water, I am glad that a clear certainty has been brought to the debate. I commend the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Deputy Alan Kelly, and the rest of the Cabinet for introducing what I would describe as a reasonably fair package. We have all heard the reasons we must invest in our water system but it is important to reiterate some matters.

We are spending €1.2 billion to maintain a broken water system, as 49% of all treated water goes in leaks and there are 20,000 people throughout Ireland on boil notices for water, including many families in the parishes of Newtowncashel in County Longford and Rochfortbridge in County Westmeath. There are 42 communities discharging raw sewage into local rivers and lakes. It was mentioned by the Minister today that more than 800 km of pipeline in Dublin is over 100 years old, and the same can be said for rural Ireland, which has examples of antiquated pipe structures in many areas of the midlands dating to the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. In some cases, these pipes for water delivery to communities contain asbestos or lead. We have been operating a system not fit for purpose and which has been neglected by successive Governments through the years. That is unacceptable.

In this day and age, an adequate water infrastructure should be in place for all the people in Ireland. Over the past number of months I sat in this Chamber across from the Fianna Fáil benches, although none of those Members is present this evening. I have found their rhetoric on Irish Water stomach-churning, as they lambasted the Government in the Chamber and held meetings throughout the country in an attempt to lead the opposition to water charges. Ultimately, when everything is said and done, Fianna Fáil signed the deal with the troika and wanted to charge Irish people €400 per year for water. Records can prove that fact.

With Sinn Féin, it is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. The party's Members either do not know or choose to ignore how much it costs to run our water system while the party introduces water charges across the Border at a rate of £280 per house. The party has repeatedly insisted that the €300 million it allowed in its pre-budget submission here to cancel water charges would cover all the costs, ignoring that €850 million per year would be needed to fund and invest in our water system. Deputy Pearse Doherty has twice conceded that there is a €550 million hole in Sinn Féin costings on Irish Water but has said it does not matter because the economy is growing. He is right about one element, as the economy is growing thanks to this Government's effort and the creation of more than 70,000 new jobs in the past year. The Independents include Deputy Paul Murphy, who must be condemned for his antics in inciting hatred at a peaceful protest, which put the lives of our women, children and elderly people at risk. There is nothing wrong with peaceful protests and I have always welcomed them through the years. People are entitled to protest in an orderly and civilised manner.

The Government has listened to people describe the pressure people are under around the country. I have stated time and again in the House that this sacrifice has allowed the economic recovery to happen. As the Minister, Deputy Kelly, mentioned earlier, we have provided certainty, simplicity and affordability in the measures introduced today. For a family household, the absolute maximum net cost will now be €3 per week and for a single household, the net cost will be €1.15 per week. Affordability is a key principle within this package and it will underpin all future Government policy on water charges. There will be legislation for capping to ensure it will remain after 2019.

Another key principle underpinning this package is the concept of water conservation, which is vital for Ireland's future. Metering is key to measuring the amount of water used by a household, and meters will allow people to beat the cap and pay even less for water through conservation measures. Meters can only reduce bills and are essential in finding leaks. I remember a number of years ago, when Longford County Council charged me for water used in my business, the first bill I received was for approximately €1,500. When I questioned this, the meter reading indicated that I had many leaks on the farm, which I went about repairing. The following year, the bill was reduced to approximately €327 because I had fixed the leaks. That was a costly reminder to get the house in order.

Another matter that has caused concern to people is the possibility of Irish Water being privatised. The current legislation is sufficient in terms of addressing that but I am pleased to see that the Minister is further reinforcing legislation by requiring any change to be put before the people of Ireland through a plebiscite. Irish Water will never be privatised without the consent of the Irish people and it is important we make that clear to everybody. The public was rightly annoyed about the high cost of setting up Irish Water and I cannot disagree with that. I am glad that the bonus culture aspect of Irish Water has been completely eliminated.

It must also be noted that this country has higher rainfall levels than most other EU countries.

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We should encourage more people to harvest water. I would like to have seen provision made for further grant assistance for the harvesting of water, as it is effective in obtaining water for giving to farm animals, watering gardens, washing cars and doing other chores.

I congratulate the Minister on providing greater clarity and making this package reasonable. In the past 12 months we have made efforts to improve infrastructure in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, and this time last year I got €1.2 million to upgrade the regional water supply in County Longford. I got €4.13 million for the rehabilitation of Mullingar water mains in County Westmeath. In the coming months and years, major projects will need to be funded in my constituency and I hope funding from Irish Water will improve infrastructure there. Water infrastructure will be very important for Ireland in the future. It is important for jobs and investment and it is a priority for the people.

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