Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome another opportunity to speak about Irish Water and its establishment as proposed by the Government. One could argue that it is welcome that this debate is taking place on a Friday, as the purpose of the debate is to hear from all sides and all views. The Opposition has its views, as I am sure Government backbenchers do. We would like to have heard them and to explore them further. It seems to be the case that the Government is hoping the Friday sitting will appease the Opposition in being able to make a contribution, while, at the same time, not encouraging voices on the other side of the House who may have strong views on the establishment of Irish Water and how the issue has been handled. A Friday sitting without contributions from Government Deputies lacks a certain element of credibility in view of the fact that there are some strong views on that side of the House. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, a former Minister of State who had responsibility for the NewERA document and the establishment of Irish Water, was quite forceful in expressing his views. Next Tuesday he and others who may have major concerns, some which they have expressed, will have the opportunity to express them in a formal setting by not supporting the establishment of Irish Water.

It is has been clear from the outset that the handling of the establishment of Irish Water has been a disastrous debacle. We were not allowed to debate the issue in the Dáil last year when the legislation was rushed through in an arrogant, jackboot manner. There was a walkout by the Opposition at the time, which was the most appropriate thing we could have done because the Government did not want to listen to anybody's views on Irish Water.

A plebiscite on the ownership of Irish Water is proposed. The Government did not allow Parliament to debate the issue last year. Now it is so enthused about getting the views of the public that it proposes to establish a public forum which can enter into consultations. The place to enter into consultations is here. Another public forum is taking place on the streets. Having the Government establish a public forum will be a pointless exercise because hundreds of thousands have consistently marched against the establishment of Irish Water, while in the House Deputies have consistently said Irish Water, in the way proposed, will not work. It is unfair, a waste of taxpayers' money and will not do what the Government hopes it will.

Irish Water was only ever meant t be a vehicle for collecting water charges - end of story. There is no other polite way of putting it. It was supposed to be a vehicle to ensure there would be increased investment in Irish Water. The current position in terms of what it can borrow on the markets leads me to believe it was only ever meant to be a way of collecting charges for water.

The public forum is on the street ands there will be a protest next week. I advise the Government to listen to it very carefully, park the Bill and enter into a proper, meaningful assessment of where we go in funding the upgrade of water and sanitary services. It needs to consider how we apportion the costs in a fair and meaningful way which takes account of ability to pay and the hardship some families are under. Let us be under no illusion - two messages can come from the Government. One day the Minister for Finance tells us the recession is over and the next a Minister tells us we have to take extra money from people to fund public services.

There are many reasons for the opposition to Irish Water. Some are against the fundamental principle of charging for water. Others accept that a contribution has to be made but think it should be made when water services have been upgraded and standards have reached a certain benchmark, at which point people would be asked to make a contribution. Everybody is agreed that some people cannot afford to make a contribution because they do not have the money to do so. The Minister for Finance told us one thing but some time later we were told that to allow for the upgrading of water services, we needed to establish Irish Water because there was no other way for the State to provide or fund the investment required. I do not accept this. In view of what the Government has done with Irish Water and the fact that it will net about €90 million, I do not believe it will be able to raise this money on the markets.

We discussed a very different Irish Water utility a couple of months ago. With the efforts made and combined strength of the public on the streets, the Government has consistently diluted Irish Water to what it is now, that is, a utility which will charge for providing inadequate services. The Government spoke about Irish Water being a utility which would embrace conservation. Yesterday the Minister boasted in the House about the fact that a water meter was placed in a hole in the ground every 49 seconds. That is laudable, but it is like a man sitting by a fireplace telling us he is spending money and throwing fivers in one after another. There is no point in installing meters, as there is no conservation element to Irish Water as proposed. It is an irrelevant and futile exercise to have people digging holes in footpaths all over the country and installing meters which will not be read for five years. If they are, the readings will be meaningless because there is no incentive to encourage conservation. It is nonsense, therefore, to refer to conservation. People know where the leaks are and can find them. We do not need a meter outside every house to find them. Irish Water will be nothing more than a collection system without any thought or foresight.

Conservation was proposed as one of the main reasons for establishing Irish Water. I have said in the House that some people will receive €100 because they use a private well and have biocycle facilities or a septic tank. I am still trying to obtain clarity on whether that will be the case. A pretend utility, Irish Water, will collect the money and a €100 conservation grant will be distributed to everybody, regardless of whether he or she conserves water. Regardless of whether I turn a tap on or off, I will still receive €100. It is farcical to pretend that that it is a conservation grant.

I suggest the Government review this legislation in its entirety, not only on the basis that it is unfair to ask some families who do not have the means or the wherewithal to pay for water, but also on the basis of the need for conservation.

We are now using jackhammers, drills and con saws to cut our footpaths to put in place water meters that will not be read for five years. To add insult to injury, if people want to read their meters, they must go out to the public footpath, remove the cover, squat down and look into a hole to read them. No logical provision was made for people to read their meter through an app system. What are we at? Then there is a great slap on the back on the part of the authorities, that they can do it every 49 seconds. The Government is boasting about the fact it is involved in a futile exercise every 49 seconds.

The Government has claimed Irish Water is a utility that will provide a service for which there will be a charge, just like Bord Gáis, the ESB and telecoms, which provide a service for which there is a charge. Then the Government got the idea that there would be a contribution to local authorities and an assessment was made in terms of rates. Counties Dublin and Waterford were assessed to calculate the contribution that would be made by Irish Water to local authorities and a figure of €60 million was decided on. We are now told this is an indicative figure. This is just another accounting exercise to get the Government over the EUROSTAT 50% requirement. The Government is juggling figures again. This is just a charade and pretence, but even more it is an insult to believe we are going to swallow that this was and is a grand plan.

This is the remnant of a failed plan. It is not one fostered or drawn up in the context of four years ago, but the remnant of a plan that was put in place by Fine Gael in Cork in 2009 when now Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, was a spokesperson on communications and energy. It was he who hatched the plan to establish Irish Water. It was he who hatched a plan for the NewERA document. Therefore, the idea that it was foisted upon the Government and that it had to go ahead with it is an untruth, because it was stated in the manifesto Fine Gael presented to the people that it wanted to build this utility and build this water company that would invest in the service. Of course, Fine Gael being populist was light on mentioning charging, but its principle was that a utility company would be established to deliver water to the businesses and households of this country. When this plan went pear shaped, the plan became someone else's idea. Failure is always the orphan and in this case Irish Water seems to have no parentage at all at this time.

I suggest that when we deal with Report Stage of the Bill next week, some effort should be made to park this legislation. The Government must listen to the public forum and to individuals who are saying they simply cannot pay for the provision of the current water service which is not a quality service in every town and county.

There is talk about a recovery in the economy and about it having turned a corner. Every advance the State makes in terms of meeting the challenges it faced in the context of the recession is welcome. However, the Government should not rub people's noses in this. Many families across the country are not experiencing any upturn in their daily lives. The Government's attitude is a bit like meeting a hungry fellow on the street and saying: "I will take you to a restaurant and show you where there is a fine steak" and walking him up the street and showing him the restaurant, but taking a fiver out of his back pocket on the way and then leaving him. That is what the Government is doing. The Government is simply telling everybody there is an upturn and we are all feeling it.

As unpopular and all as the Government is, there is no way it can motivate the swathes of people who have come out on the streets to oppose Irish Water to accept this concept. Many of these people are out because they simply cannot afford the charges. They see them as inherently unfair and as penalising people who do not have the money to pay. The plan is regressive and takes no account of the circumstances in which families find themselves. This is why we will see huge numbers on the streets again next week. It is why we are now debating a haphazard effort by the Government to try to plug its collapsing support. That is why we are debating this Bill today.

This is why the Government is going through this great pretence that today we are having a full debate. We on this side of the House are having a full debate, but there are no contributions coming from the Government side of the House. As long as I have been a Member of this House, we have had a Government contribution followed by an Opposition contribution during debate. The debate we are having today highlights the fact that there is significant opposition to the Bill. It highlights too that much of that opposition is on the Government side, but those Members opposed to it are not willing to come in and say that. Next week, however, when we put the Bill to a vote, the Government will have all of those Deputies who oppose it whipped into line. Once again, the Government has decided that it is going to try to ride out the storm, rub people's noses in this, pretend it has listened and continue on its merry road.

The Government is running out of road on many fronts and running out of road on this particular issue. The gratuitous insulting way Irish Water was established has not addressed the issues. It was suggested it would be fair, understanding and would address the concerns of families under pressure, but that has not turned out to be the case. The original announcement took no account of ability to pay. It was going to hammer families. A couple with two adult children would have paid approximately €500 a year for water. This was what the Government was planning to go ahead with.

We were told the reason Irish Water was charging such large sums was because this was what the regulator had decided. Where is the regulator now? The Government has parked up the regulator to try to get itself out of this political hole. One week the regulator was considered sacrosanct and the issue could not be discussed at all, but then when there was panic in Government buildings, the regulator was pushed aside and the Government came out with nonsense arithmetic to try to get itself over a few hurdles, including the tumbling polls and EUROSTAT. It has now cobbled together this farce, where a person with his own well and septic tank who earns €473,000 or €500,000 or €2 million - it makes no difference what he earns - is paid €100 every year and can leave whatever water he likes run away down his driveway. At the same time, the Government will penalise families who might have nothing left at the end of any week by making them pay €160, and it tells us this is fair. Not only does it tell us this is fair, it says this includes a conservation element.

I see no conservation element in this. I can go home this evening and turn on the tap and leave water running down my driveway and I will still get my €100 from the Government next year. This is farcical. This grand plan was designed by the Minister, Deputy Kelly and I assume, the Minister of State will try to absolve himself from responsibility and say at some stage that he had nothing to do with it. I assume he will say it was the Minister's idea and that he, as a Minister of State, is just doing his bidding. Somebody on the Government side of the House must stand up and say enough is enough of the pretence that Irish Water is built for the purpose of developing and enhancing our water and sanitary services and that it will develop a great conservation philosophy for the people. With this philosophy, we will all turn off our taps when we brush our teeth, will flush the toilet only once a day and will do all the right things. We will not put out the garden hose and fill the plastic Lidl pool in June for the three children to paddle in. None of us will do that. Of course people will do all these things and they should be able to do so to some extent. People must live too.

However, the idea that there is a conservation element in it is an insult and a joke.

The Bill should be parked for the many reasons I have outlined. The most important reason, however, is that it is unfair and unjust. It does not take account of ability to pay or the huge pressures being experienced behind some front doors in this country, where families are struggling daily to pay for essentials. The Minister should park the Bill, pull the plug on Irish Water and let us have an honest debate on how to fund and enhance our water services. We cannot pretend that they must not be paid for. They will have to be paid for, but there should be an element of fairness and sustainability in it to ensure we have a service that provides for the needs of the Irish people and the economy in the years ahead in terms of water and sanitation services. It must also take into account the fact that many people in this country have not yet felt the wind of recovery which is espoused by the Minister for Finance on a continual basis when it suits him, although the following day another Minister comes to the House to explain why it is necessary to charge for water. It is a circle that most people cannot square. The Minister should scrap the Bill and hold a public forum in the new year on how we should fund our services in the years ahead.

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