Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The mishandling of the setting up of Irish Water is affecting the Irish economy. Consumer confidence has taken a battering due to the prospect of water charges, as many people cannot afford more pressure on household budgets. Many of those who can pay resent the imposition of more bills on them after several layers of additional taxes and austerity over previous years. The revelation of bonuses for Irish Water staff angered consumers. Another issue is benchmarking for the employees of this overstaffed super-quango. It has up to 2,000 excess staff, which is another inefficiency that will push up the cost for households.

Conservation was the real selling point of the programme of works and was the central point at the behest of the troika. However, at this stage, people see Irish Water as purely a revenue-raising exercise. In September, the consumer confidence index fell with the prospect of water bills in the new year. The catalyst seems to be the advent of forthcoming water charges. Statistics show fewer people are saving because they are discouraged by the feeling that water charges will eat up the money they put aside. The Irish League of Credit Unions states that eight out of ten families feel the household budget will be under pressure.

I have some information from the former MEP Kathy Sinnott on the water framework directive and the European Commission.

The exemption is based on the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government's commitment, strategy and budget to rectify the inadequacies in our water management without metering. This commitment is recorded in the 2008 Irish river basin management plan. With sources of funding in place or planned like general taxation, road tax and VAT, the former environment Minister, John Gormley, confirmed in 2008 that Ireland had obtained and was availing of the exemption from household water charges. At the time, Kathy Sinnott was assured by the European Commission that the EU could not take the exemption from us but the Irish Government had the power to cancel it. She has also let people know about the existence of the exemption and has been inundated with questions about its current status.

The water framework directive article 9.4 exemption is still in place. The challenging news is that it is under imminent threat of cancellation. In fact, both the Irish Government and the European Commission are expecting that when the 2015 Irish river basin management plan is handed in on 1 January 2015, the commitment, strategy and budget in the plan will include domestic water charging. Why are they so sure that the plan, as yet incomplete and unpublished, will include water charging? In 2010, the troika told us to privatise and charge for water. Accordingly, both the Irish Government and the European Commission assumes we will meekly obey, stating in the river basin report that the only way we can protect our rivers is by charging for domestic water use.

Is this true? If the money spent on metering was spent on pipe work, we would see a significant improvement in leakage, for example. If the money collected in taxes that we were told would pay for water infrastructure was spent on water treatment plants, again we would see a significant improvement to water infrastructure.

Most effective would be to pinpoint the sources of river pollution and recover the cost of repair. The water framework directive is based on the polluter pays principle. To retain the exemption, therefore, it is imperative we identify the real polluters of water and make them pay. Some of these sources come under the Department’s remit such as outdated wastewater treatment plants which require significant investment for upgrades, as well as old tailings ponds from mining operations. The resulting pollution provides ideal conditions for cryptosporidium and other contaminants as was experienced in Galway city several years ago. Why should those innocent of causing the problem and who are already bearing the expense of bottled and boiled water be asked to foot the bill for cleaning up water pollution they did not cause? The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government should instead go to the polluter, which in many cases is it and local authorities, and recover the cost of cleaning up polluted water, or better still, prevent the pollution in the first place.

Privatisation will not solve our water infrastructure problems because private companies are geared to profit. It will make sense to invest in 500 m of new piping in a city because it will serve hundreds of paying houses. It will cut into profits, however, to replace 500 m of leaking pipes in a small village which only serves five paying customers or in a remote area for one house. A privatised water system will still be a leaky water system.

There is still time to save the Irish exemption. Once we can realistically show in the upcoming river basin management plan that we are on track to meet our clean water targets for 2027, then we can retain the exemption from domestic water charging. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government can do this by making the commitment that actual water polluters will pay, that funds collected for water infrastructure in existing taxes will be used to upgrade our systems and by creating incentives for improvements to domestic water use like rain water collection systems. Once the exemption is gone, it is gone for good. We have one month to save it. Retaining the exemption would take a burden off the people’s shoulders. They have borne enough at this stage.

A constituent sought clarification on several issues concerning the water conservation grant. On 20 November, the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, stated on RTE Radio’s “Drivetime” that the €100 being given to all registered members of Irish Water, whether customers or not, is a reward for people for providing their own private wells and septic tanks in the past. He repeated this on "Morning Ireland" on 21 November. However, Seamus Coffey, economics lecturer at University College Cork stated on "Morning Ireland" on 19 November that the €100 rebate will have to be given to all registered people to allow Irish Water be set up as a semi-State company outside of the Government sector as otherwise it would be considered a subsidy. Is the €100 subsidy to registered non-customers of Irish Water a thank-you gesture, as stated by the Minister, or a compulsory gesture to get Irish Water off the ground?

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