Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I opposed the legislation setting up Irish Water when it came before the House. In the course of that debate I proposed that appropriate funding should be first provided to upgrade the existing infrastructure, with sufficient allocations to local authorities to remedy deficient public water and wastewater systems. I further suggested that after a transition stage of perhaps five years, we might then progress to setting up a national board. In the meantime, we should have a national campaign for water conservation and to eliminate wastage, with an emphasis on getting this message across through schools and at local community level. I also argued for a grant incentive for the installation of water harvesting systems for domestic use and for businesses.

Unfortunately, the Government has had to learn the error of its ways the hard way and the mistakes that were made in establishing the new State company are not reversible at this stage or are only partially fixable, as was clear from statements in the House yesterday. Twelve months ago, the Government rammed through a Bill over which it had apparently deliberated for up to two years. In doing so, it recklessly committed itself to tens of millions of euro in expenditure. For the past month the Government has been biding its time before committing to further changes. Poor communication, we are told, was the main factor in this whole debacle. However, that cannot account for all the mistakes that were made. Several destructive errors were committed, including spending millions on consultants and hiring staff on a bonus system which, it now seems, is legally impossible to reverse. Another mistake was starting with a model of recovery of full costs from charges instead of focusing on affordability, at least for a few years. On top of all that, a complicated fees structure was set out without any study of proper usage and the public was frightened by speculation about exorbitant prices. The message was given out that families with children aged over 16 and living at home would be penalised. In addition, of course, there was the fiasco of requiring householders to provide a PPS numbers. All of this amounted to a huge turn-off for a cash-strapped public still reeling from an avalanche of austerity measures in recent years.

I hope we will have no more squandering of valuable public moneys. There is a need now to focus on repairing and upgrading the infrastructure and expending finances to address deficient pipelines and upgrade water treatment systems and sewerage treatment plants. In County Kerry, for instance, we have applied for approval for more than €30 million in funding to fix leaking water pipes. There are more than 40 villages where preliminary approval has been granted for small sewerage schemes and treatment plants and extensions to existing schemes. There is an urgent need for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to address the uncertainty regarding the implementation of group water schemes in the future. Many of the existing group water schemes in Kerry were administered at local level, with Kerry County Council providing resources from public funds. Many of those schemes are now disbanded and the local committees have broken up. They are sometimes referred to as orphan schemes as they have not been taken in charge by the council. All such schemes have been left in limbo since the formation of Irish Water.

As for the charges for group water schemes, the original proposal by Irish Water was for the use of a bulk meter, with the group organisers ascertaining the payment for each household. This was a ridiculous and unworkable scheme which put the administrative onus back on people who are giving of their services voluntarily. There is an urgent need for clarity regarding registration by members of group water schemes. If they sign up, will they then become customers of Irish Water and thereby liable for charges even where the scheme is not taken over by the council? If they are paying for the water, are they also responsible for the maintenance of the scheme? The Department must address these grey areas as soon as possible.

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