Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is extraordinary to think it is December again and we are here discussing Irish Water. In December 2013, we were being told about Irish Water. At the time, due to the lack of interest in a debate on Irish Water on the Government’s part, the entire Opposition walked out of the Chamber, an unheard of event in this House. Members opposite laughed and jeered as we did so on this side of the House. Our concerns, which were the concerns of the people, were ignored on that occasion. The alarm bells should surely have sounded in the Government then.

Last month, on the first weekend of November, that approach by the Government brought 100,000 on to the streets. The only good to have come from the Irish Water debacle is that people have found a voice and have, generally, protested peacefully. There is no room for violent protest, intimidation or shouting down others. Irish Water has given a reason for people to get out and say they have had enough, not just of Irish Water, but of so many measures over the past several years, some of which in fairness were introduced before this Government came into office.

Titles of Bills will often contain the word “amendment” in brackets. This Bill should be called the water services (U-turn) Bill. It has turned its back on so much of what the Government intended to do. The Minister knows, however, it still does not go far enough. The company and entity that is Irish Water does not have and will not have the confidence of the people at any stage because of the way it was rolled out over the past 12 months.

The company's management is imbued with a bonus culture and these bonuses even apply to staff performing poorly. The metering programme will cost some €600 million, though the meters are difficult to access and use for conservation purposes. Application packs have been sent to incorrect addresses and to people who have passed away. When people tried to get information from Irish Water earlier in the year they were kept waiting and, in many cases, received no response.

Irish Water has failed before it has begun because it has failed the confidence test. That confidence will never be restored and this Bill does nothing in this regard. The Minister emphasised that he is changing the board of Ervia and suggested this would drive change but such measures are cosmetic at best. The circumstances of people protesting these charges vary. Some people cannot pay even the capped charge due to the week-to-week nature of precarious household budgets. Many people who are lucky enough to have a salary have little left after direct debits are paid and this charge is one too many. There are those who will not pay because they are opposed ideologically to water charges. The majority of people might pay the charges but will not make payments to the entity that is Irish Water as they have no confidence in the company. They do not wish to see their money wasted on a metering programme and a culture of bonuses and until this is addressed people will oppose the charges.

This Bill fails the fairness test. We in this House are well-paid but are, nonetheless, entitled to the same conservation grant as those receiving social welfare payments every week. I call it the backbencher conservation grant. Many people earn more than the Members of this House but will still get the same grant as those receiving social welfare payments. The fairness test says that those who can least afford to pay should get most assistance but this Bill fails in this respect.

We were told conservation is central to Irish Water and the glossy advertisements were all about saving water but the conservation test was failed due to the choice of water meter. All water users should be able to access their meters to read the consumption data as this would aid conservation. Perhaps conservation and metering should have started at a district level with people given the option of taking a meter to assist in conservation. Metering at district level would have allowed quicker identification of leaks and problems and if people wanted a meter at home to assist in conservation they could have been given the option.

The new system fails the investment test. Will the investment programme published by Irish Water become a work of fiction like the health service plan? This has been the case with all such plans in recent years. When one drills down one learns that no extra money will be invested in water facilities. The investment programme identifies projects. The old system of driving money into local authorities was flawed but this structure is too big, too expensive and too inefficient. The National Roads Authority is lean and works on service level agreements with local authorities on a regional basis and this is a more appropriate structure. The water basin districts were dealt with on a regional basis and that is also a more appropriate structure. In my county of Mayo there are shortages and other issues but we generally have a good water supply. However, two miles up the road in Roscommon it is chaos. Everyone agrees that a change to the structure was needed but the structure proposed does not have the confidence of the people and never did. This bloated structure is now tasked with making investments in the water network in the coming five years but, on an annual basis, the level of investment will be no bigger than previously.

The new system fails the tests to which I have alluded but the Minister, Deputy Kelly, is pursuing the model as laid out. The Tánaiste supports the new approach of the Minister, as though she has forgotten the fact that she sat at the Cabinet table with the former Minister, Commissioner Phil Hogan, for three and a half years. Perhaps the Tánaiste now needs to be reminded who Mr. Hogan actually is - he is the ghost who dare not speak his name. The Tánaiste sat at the Cabinet table when the original plans were made, signed off on them and voted to ram through the legislation so she cannot wash her hands of this, no matter how she tries. The Labour Party's finger-prints are all over Irish Water, however it might try to lay the blame at the door of the former Minister, Mr. Hogan.

The group water schemes issue is still a mess as schemes with a private supply have been placed in a vague holding house pending discussions with Irish Water on its investment programme. Irish Water will have to hold discussions with representatives of group water schemes on changes in subsidies. I asked a parliamentary question on this but got the usual reply in the style of Sir Humphrey. When one is lucky enough to get a response on the matter of Irish Water it tends to be of this nature but the standard reply is that the Minister has no responsibility for Irish Water. Group water schemes are the most successful aspect of the Irish water system but there is no clarity on how they will be dealt with by Irish Water. These schemes are success stories and have delivered water to places that local authorities and engineers could not reach. Local communities came together in these cases on the basis of meitheal, which we all cherish, and supplied water to houses. With appropriate investment over the years, through local authority funding and through the CLÁR programme, which was abolished by the former Minister, Mr. Hogan, group water schemes ensured that people who otherwise would not have running water got a supply.

Can we be confident that Irish Water will take an interest in rural communities that are away from the water supply? I do not think so. I do not think a monstrosity like Irish Water cares for rural communities. The majority of group water schemes are financially successful, though they are not run by legions of staff and consultants. They are run by volunteers who care for their communities and get up in the middle of the night to fix leaks. These volunteers have been left hanging regarding their work and legacy and this has gone unmentioned.

This Bill is pathetic and so was the Government's response to the marches but the worst aspect of all this is the fact that the European Commission criticised the Government on this issue. The troika has left the country and these issues are not the business of the European Commission. The Government was elected and is answerable only to those who elected it - the European Commission has no further role in this.

If we are to believe the figures then it seems taxes are healthy and everything is ahead of target. Given that the system fails the conservation test, the fairness test and the investment test, why is the Government pursuing this? Why is the Government inflicting chaos on the country? Why is it inflicting damage on itself? None of this is required from a revenue point of view. It is true that reform is needed in water delivery and a debate is required on conservation. The debate will not involve the generation of occupants of this House but children now in green schools. Today's children will drive the debate on conservation, not a monolith that has wasted much money to date and will waste far more in future. Irish Water will not drive conservation. There is nothing in this Bill for the children in the green schools programme and there is nothing to encourage conservation.

Here we are. It is December. Next week will be interesting. From the point of view of the legislation we will see how many amendments the Government does not accept. We will see whether it will guillotine Committee Stage. I heard the Tánaiste at it again this morning. She keeps saying the Government is giving 17 hours of debate to the legislation. We all know Second Stage is not debate, it is pantomime. The real debate is on Committee Stage when we go through the legislation line by line. I would almost put my water conservation grant on it: the Government will guillotine the Committee Stage debate and no amendments will be accepted. Nothing has changed one year on. The guillotine will apply and the Government will not listen to the Opposition. We may not walk out this time, but the walking will be done on Wednesday, as it was on 2 November and 11 October last. Deputy Murphy touched on something when she said we might back in the House for a water services Bill 2015 soon after we come back.

I call on the Minister of State to reflect on the fact that the Government began this year in the House with three weeks of debate involving Government Members telling themselves how great they were. However, the Government will end the year on Wednesday week, one week after however many tens of thousands of people will come out in opposition to the grand creation that is Irish Water. The Government must rue all the lost opportunity, lost capital and the lost sense of respect for this House, Government and democracy, and all because of Irish water.

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