John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Many people will take with a pinch of salt yesterday's assurances from the Government that legislation is coming which will ensure that a referendum will be required to privatise Irish Water, because the Minister, in the same breath, washed his hands of people who have said that they will not pay the charge. Asked whether people who do not pay will be taken to court, he said it was a matter for Irish Water. It is becoming abundantly clear that the Government is making this up as it goes along and is quite content to change the script to suit itself. Another case in point is the fact that meters are now effectively redundant if capped charges continue. So much for water conservation. The concessions announced yesterday will result in the accumulation of massive debts by Irish Water over the next four years. The Government has said it will make up the gap in revenue to the tune of €84 million to €87 million per year. Obviously that money will be diverted from already crippled public services.

It is a fact that we have no guarantee that a future Government will uphold the decision to prop up Irish Water.

The Government made a commitment yesterday that no privatisation would take place without the consent of the people, but it failed to recognise in any way that water was a basic human right that should be kept under democratic, rather than commercial, control. That failure sends a clear message to working class people, from whom the Government is far removed, that it clearly regards water as a commodity which will be far beyond the reach of the 26% of households with two adults and two children who are living in deprivation. This figure was recorded in 2011 and I have no doubt that the proportion now far exceeds 26%. When concessions end in 2018, householders will face much higher bills to make up for the loss of revenue. I have no doubt that the picture painted for the public at that time will be that privatisation is the only sustainable option; hence the decision announced by the Government yesterday. Its proposals are the very building blocks that will push the privatisation of Irish Water. The concessions made yesterday will push Irish Water into insolvency and eventually make privatisation inevitable.

See this speech in context