Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I got elected to Dáil Éireann in 2002. This is one of the biggest issues that has come before me in my constituency of Galway West. It is even bigger than the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act. People refer to the cost of setting up Irish Water, the number of managers and the bonuses being paid. A total of 90 managers earn more than €100,000 a year. They also get a car bonus worth €10,000 a year. The big talking point among people is the cost of setting up and running Irish Water. They believe it will eventually cost more than the HSE to run because of the number of managers and workers involved.

Every day of the week jobs are advertised in local authorities for people to work in Irish Water. A lot of the people who work in Irish Water are good people who have given a great service to the local authorities. We do not blame the people who work in Irish Water who are trying to do a job. The Government has set up the company. People are concerned about the costs associated with setting up Irish Water. A total of €80 million was spent on consultants alone. How could anyone justify that? How could one explain to people that consultants got €80 million to set up a utility company?

The Minister stated the charges for the average family for water will be low. They might be low today, tomorrow and in a year’s time but what will they be in ten years’ time? I am in the House for 12 years and the time was not long going by. The costs in ten years’ time will be a lot higher than €60, and they will be a lot higher than €160. I will put any money on it that people will pay an average of €1,000 per year for water.

In addition, there is the property tax. Many people accepted the property tax. They registered their property and paid the tax. They asked why another €100 was not added to the property tax to cover water services rather than setting up a new utility company. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, said this morning that 935,000 people had registered with Irish Water. Irish people are law-abiding citizens. They do not want to break the law. They are worried. They do not want letters telling them that if they do not pay they will be brought before the courts. The vast majority of people have never seen the inside of a court house. They do not want to go inside a court. They registered because they are afraid of what will happen. They know that by registering they will be caught within the payment system. I will not advise anyone to break the law. I have never advised any constituent who came into my office to break the law. That is a big worry because property prices will increase, as will the property tax.

6 o’clock

Give it another five to ten years and the average household will be paying in the region of €1,000 for water and €3,000 or €4,000, if not €5,000 or €6,000, property tax. They will get nothing out of it. Many Government Deputies are saying that the system was not working correctly and there were numerous leaks and much damage. I agree but there were also many excellent schemes in place. We must hand it to the local authorities because they have done brilliant work in upgrading schemes and taking schemes in charge. If local authorities were properly financed to service the schemes it would cost a fraction. Rather than giving that €80 million to consultants if it was given to local authorities many schemes would be upgraded.

About four or five weeks ago there was a major pipe burst on a regional road in Galway. It blew a section of the road. The neighbours contacted my local councillor, Councillor Jim Cuddy, who in turn rang Irish Water at 8.30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The receptionist thanked him for his call and said the incident would be brought to the attention of Irish Water on Monday morning. This was 8.30 a.m. on a Saturday. Many thousands of litres of water was leaking by the hour. A house was nearly flooded only for the quick action of a few neighbours who put up a barrier against the water.

Councillor Cuddy rang me. I know that I am not supposed to name people but the Leas-Cheann Comhairle who is a Galway man knows Martin Lavelle who is the senior engineer in Galway County Council. He was at home in Mayo and I rang him on his mobile. He took the call and he explained that technically he would be required to wait for clearance from Irish Water before the local authority could deal with a leak and all the paperwork completed. I explained to him that hundreds of thousands of gallons of water were leaking and fair play to him, he got it fixed. He arranged for a contractor to fix the leak. I asked him what was the procedure for paying the local authority for the work because technically the local authority was not supposed to carry out any work without prior approval from Irish Water.

Talking about leaks, recently it came to my attention that a large school received a bill in the post for €11,500 to cover a two-month period. Contractors eventually discovered the underground leak which could not be seen. The school contacted the local authority engineers who assured the principal that the bill could be paid off over four or five years but that the school was liable for that bill. I brought this matter to the attention of the city manager and in all fairness to him he is looking after it and it is hoped something can be done. I advise everybody that they should examine their water meter when it is installed to see if it registers a leak because the only time it will be brought to one's attention is when the bill comes in the door. A householder might be allowed one write-off of the cost but the chances are that we will not get any write-off of the bill. I advised the principal of the school to examine the water meter every morning to see if it has registered any change. I advise all schools to do so because an underground leak will not be noticed until the bill comes in the door. This issue must be addressed.

Some time ago I put down a parliamentary question to the Minister about the cost of installing meters and the reply was that it was nothing to do with the Minister but that it was the responsibility of the local authority. My colleague, Deputy Mattie McGrath, raised this issue previously in the House. The Minister replied that it was a matter for Galway County Council. My colleague, Councillor Jim Cuddy, tried to raise the matter at a council meeting but he has been unable to get the information about the costs. Now the meters have to be removed and replaced with new meters and this is more money wasted when people are sitting on trolleys in hospitals and waiting to have operations and €500,000 was spent in Galway just to change the name of a hospital. Talk about wasting money.

I wish to raise the issue of new connection charges for new builds, in particular, the once-off house for a young couple who will be told to contact Irish Water. I know that Irish Water as well as the Government will try to get the money from somewhere. I foresee a situation where if building a house in the countryside it will cost €8,000 to pay an engineer to keep an eye on the house to make sure it is properly built and this is welcome. However, the cost of €8,000 is astronomical and too much for young couples. The connection fee to water schemes under the control of Irish Water will go through the roof and will amount to another €3,000 or €4,000. Another issue will be how Irish Water is to raise money. I refer to businesses which pay commercial rates. The annual rates bill for one business known to me was €27,000 but was increased on review to €56,000. This is what will happen with water usage.

A GAA club brought to my attention that young children who train and play matches usually have their showers at home but now the parents are telling them to take their showers in the club house because it will cost more for the water at home if they shower at home. They want the clubs and the schools to pay for the water instead. This is more cost for the schools. The capitation grant was cut and water charges will drive up the costs of running a school.

Christmas is the season of goodwill and most people on this side of the House are looking forward to going home to celebrate Christmas. I know there are many people on the opposite side who are not looking forward to going home for Christmas. The only time they smile is when they are leaving the constituency to come here in order to get away from the people who are so worked up over the cost of water charges and the new bills they will have to pay. Their faces drop when they leave here on Thursday or Friday morning to go back to the constituencies.

I walked with the people in the march in Galway. I registered my own house and I will pay whatever is brought in by law. I will not advise anybody to break the law. The people on that march were good, decent people. The Government tried to say that they were left-wingers and troublemakers, people who just wanted to go out and cause havoc and trouble. There were good decent people on the march in Galway-----

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