Dáil debates

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed)

 

5:15 pm

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I oppose the motion before the House and the Government's approach to water policy - both the previous approach and the one it is trying to sell now, which is a mishmash, cobbled together to get the Government out of this political mire rather than making sense from a strategic point of view or from the point of view of improving water services. The Government has consistently tried to pin the blame for introducing water charges on the troika. The troika has been gone for almost a year, and this is the Government's call. From the Minister's approach and the call he has made, we have learned that, unfortunately, the Government and its Ministers have learned very little from the past. Instead of trying to establish an organisational structure that would see the introduction of a proper water service, the Minister established a new quango and invested up to €160 million in consultancy fees, despite having said he was giving the contract to Bord Gáis because it already had the expertise. The Minister took in outside "expertise" to do a job we would have expected Bord Gáis to have been able to do. The Minister also introduced a bonus culture in Irish Water which was going to result in the payment of bonuses even in cases in which the staff were not doing the job as well as would have been expected.

The Government is trying to cover up the fact that the idea went back to a 2009 Fine Gael document and NewERA, which showed that at all stages Fine Gael had intended to introduce this when it got into government. But for the fact that the public did not accept it and it did not wash, the Government would be doing it. Hence the cobbled together arrangement that was announced yesterday. To try to retrieve the situation, instead of the type of charges the Government was to introduce before, whereby a household of four adults would pay just under €500 regardless of income, the Government will give €100 back to every household, regardless of income. Unfortunately, this is no longer about the water but saving seats. This is the dynamic which ties together this irrational, illogical and ill thought out proposal.

This morning on the radio, the chief executive of Ervia, Mr. Mike McNicholas, explained the new financing structure. He indicated that €271 million would be collected in domestic water charges instead of the previously estimated €300 million. However, there will not be, by any stretch of the imagination, a 100% collection rate. Even on the basis that Irish Water gets €200 million per year, and taking into account that the Government will give back more than €100 million to the public via the cheque for €100 it will post to every household, the net income is likely to be approximately €100 million per year. This figure will be net of the €650 million the Government spent between consultancy fees for Irish Water and the €500 million it will have spent to install water meters which will no longer achieve their objectives of conservation.

Conservation is out the window. Under the Government's proposal there will be little incentive for people to conserve water. This morning, Mr. McNicholas indicated that it would take 15 years to pay back the cost of the meters on the basis that leaks would be fixed. In the meantime, the Government will pay €20 million per year in interest rates for it. It is time for the Government to suspend the approach it has taken, to admit it has been a mess and a disaster, to go back to the drawing board and return with a structure that will prioritise the public and developing a proper water infrastructure, instead of the politics of the Government.

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