Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We shall see about that. It is less than a fifth of what the Government claimed it needed to raise, which puts paid to the original argument that €500 million had to be raised on an annual basis for investment in and the running of Irish Water. The second argument in respect of conservation has also been put paid to because we will not have metered water until 2019 and we can only have a leap of faith as to whether it will happen; I am not convinced of that at all, and there is nothing to say this or another Government will not capitulate or extend the flat-charge period for another three, five or ten years if convenient or politically expedient. The Government has basically lost the argument for the establishment of Irish Water and the introduction of charges. This Bill is living proof of that as, in effect, it represents the capitulation of the Government in its original arguments.

I am unsure why we are proceeding with Irish Water, which is not going to raise the revenues claimed necessary or introduce any form of conservation. We already know how much taxpayers' money has been invested in the establishment of Irish Water, and I put that on the record in my Second Stage contribution last Friday. I will do so again. Irish Water borrowed €250 million from the National Pensions Reserve Fund in 2013 and collected €240 million from the proceeds of property tax in 2014, which we were promised by the Government would be ring-fenced for direct investment in local communities. Although 80% of that fund was to be ring-fenced, it was plundered instead for €240 million to invest in Irish Water rather than in local communities and services that are so desperately needed. Irish Water also gained €490 million from the local government fund in 2014. That is in excess of €1 billion already, and we know Irish Water will take €190 million from businesses, major corporations and small and medium enterprises, including family businesses, every year. It will take in the region of €90 million per year from householders. Taxpayers have been required to invest a massive amount of money in this utility, which will not conserve water, and I am very sceptical about what it will achieve in delivering a proper water infrastructure.

I will make one or two connected points. It is important to reiterate the very clear commitment made in the Fine Gael manifesto in 2011 with regard to Irish Water. It indicated that the party would not ask home owners "to pay for a broken and unreliable system". That was a clear commitment contained in the party manifesto of the largest Government party before the last election. I believed it and stood on that platform. I believed the broken and unreliable water system would be fixed before charges would be introduced. That is what I advocated and understood to be the intention of the main Government party. Now there are flat charges in place - they are not metered or based on consumption and do not promote conservation - and the only purpose is to raise revenue. They come without a reliable or clean water system being delivered across the country, which is reprehensible.

I hope the Minister can help with the next point, which I have raised repeatedly. It is the issue of the so-called Irish Water consultative group, which arose in a secretive arrangement made by the Minister's predecessor, former Deputy Phil Hogan, when he set up a cosy cartel between the trade unions, his Department and local authorities. This ensured so-called service-level agreements were put in place to ensure the kinds of economies of scale, savings or efficiencies that were supposed to be introduced by Irish Water could not happen by law. These 12-year agreements have been entered into with unions and ensure the cost of maintaining Irish Water over the next 12 years will be in the region of €1.5 billion to €2 billion more than was necessary. That figure has been put forward by the Economic and Social Research Institute and independent economist, Professor John FitzGerald, on the basis that Irish Water is employing almost double the number of staff required to deliver an efficient water service across the country.

I have submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister in the past number of weeks on this. On 2 December, in replying to Question No. 93, the Minister assured me the local government management agency, which hosts the meetings of this secretive group, provides secretariat services to it and is responsible for holding all the records of the group, will forward to me the minutes, including attendee lists, directly. Those secret meetings led to a secret deal which will cost Irish taxpayers a minimum of €1.5 billion more than they should be paying for water over the next 12 years. I would like the Minister to provide those minutes as it is his responsibility. The matter should not be kicked to touch and I hope there is detail in those minutes as to how these agreements were arrived at. They are reprehensible, unfair and unrepresentative as nobody advocated the interests of taxpayers who are being asked to foot this bill for 12 years. These taxpayers were essentially sold a pup in the general election when they were told that Irish Water would deliver economies of scale, efficiencies, savings for taxpayers and a better, cleaner and reliable water system. It is in the NewERA document published by Fine Gael in 2010, its manifesto and the programme for Government.

Irish citizens were not to be charged until the safe and reliable water service was in place but instead they will see a standing charge levied on an annual basis without the delivery of a clean, reliable and safe water system. On top of that, they must foot a bill of €1.5 billion that arose when the Minister's predecessor, former Deputy Hogan, basically bought peace with the unions. That is reprehensible and an insult to the Irish public. I urge the Minister to take this opportunity to address the issue and, if necessary, undo it. I believe that is necessary.

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