Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In Roscommon-South Leitrim, quality of water is paramount, but for the past ten years this has been neglected by successive Governments. I hope that in the next 12 to 15 months this will be resolved.

Everyone knows that Irish Water has been a fiasco from the start. People joined Irish Water having left jobs with large pensions, and they have been granted bonuses and mileage expenses at the new body. None of this would be allowed to happen in the private sector, and anyone expecting such conditions would be sacked. This system cannot continue. People must stand up and be honest when something is wrong. Irish Water reminds me of the HSE: there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Last weekend I saw a sample of dirty water from Cloonfad, County Roscommon. I worked in the water sector previously, and on examining this sample I could see that the problem was not water quality; rather, the pipes had not been scoured.

Last Saturday people protested - nobody here will condone things that get out of hand - but if politicians do not listen to the people, problems will arise to the north, south, east and west. Between bank bailouts, cuts and water charges, people are sick and tired and feel politicians have let them down. Only 10% of people voted in the last by-election in Tallaght, and this indicates a worrying trend.

Last night I listened to the former Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, and I thought he was very honest. He said he had indicated the problems to the powers that be all along but they did not listen. It is true that Deputy O'Dowd rolled out the scheme, but if this is how the country functions, with senior civil servants dictating the pace, we in the Dáil must have a frank and open debate on who runs this country. I have seen first-hand instances of the National Parks and Wildlife Service failing to listen to Ministers and ordinary people.

The Minister, Deputy Kelly, announced a new type of water system yesterday, and this marked a day when people power made politicians listen. It is good to finally see that PPS numbers will no longer be required. I have been watching television for a long time and I am not a wet week in this House, but it is good to see politicians admitting mistakes at long last and saying "I got it wrong." Whoever put the politicians in this situation should be wheeled out too - representatives of the Department should also say "We got it wrong."

Yesterday's announcement can be dressed up in many ways, but there is only one way of keeping control of water safely in the hands of the Irish people. It requires a referendum. We can give shares to Ministers, but this will not solve the problem if a future Government decides to sell Irish Water. I was pleased to see provision made yesterday for weekly payment of the water charge in post offices, but it is strange that only a few weeks ago in this House such a provision was deemed impossible for people who pay tax of up to €4,000 on heavy goods vehicles.

Yesterday's announcement put paid to the Government's talk of conservation. I am chairman of a group water scheme that installed meters around ten years ago, after which water usage fell from 970 cu. m to 490 cu. m per year. We were able to find leaks inside and outside the line. Yesterday it was announced that it would not matter whether a household used a gallon or a million gallons, because it is all the same.

I read the fine print on all this last night and I was worried to see that in the spring of 2015 the price structure for group water schemes on the public supply will be examined. One wonders what non-domestic water users have to look forward to, because the regulator has been very quiet in the past week. I understand that he will be wheeled out in the coming months to tell non-domestic water users in council schemes what they will pay. I am talking about farmers and people in business. Is this how money lost through the provisions announced yesterday will be recouped?

Following yesterday's announcement, is this where the money is going to picked up from? I am not a pessimist but I am a realist and I fear, whether it is in two or three years' time, when it comes to the subvention for the rural group water schemes there will be cuts. If Governments have failed to take note of what the national federation and each of the group water schemes have done throughout this country for water by delivering a quality service, then I will make it clear. Let no Minister ever touch these schemes. If they take away the subvention, it will amount to the decimation and destruction of one of the finest things in Ireland: people throughout the country running schemes voluntarily. I have no wish to scaremonger but I fear that when we do the mathematics following yesterday's announcement, it simply does not add up. There is something coming down the road, but let me be clear: people will stand up, like they did before and they will do so again, if the group water schemes are touched around the country.

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