Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Taking up the last point, we learned this morning from Ofwat, which is the water regulator in the UK, that the average charge across the UK is approaching £400 per household. It shows the fate that could lie ahead for this country. Thames Water and a number of the UK water companies were deeply involved subcontractors to some of the Irish local authorities so they know the water and drainage conditions of large parts of this country. When one looks at the history of water services in the UK, one can see that in that kind of so-called market, services involving the most basic and precious product on the planet - aqua vitae- were starved of investment. This is the fate that many of us fear lies ahead when a future Government, if not this one, might proceed further along the road to privatisation.

I again warmly welcome Deputy Stanley's amendment which aims to give householders some kind of an input into the future direction. I would not be very hopeful about these kind of fora because we have seen them in other bodies. I think colleagues have referred to this. In particular, I note that in the financial services sector before the crash, there were a number of so-called consumer fora which were supposed to advise the Governor of the Central Bank on the kind of conditions that were happening in credit situations, mortgages and so on. The general feeling is that those fora were talking shops and did not work because the Central Bank, as part of the European system, and the Government, through its fiscal policy, made the decisive moves.

I have never had much confidence in the Commission for Energy Regulation in terms of energy regulation. When I was the Labour Party spokesperson on energy for a long time, I found that I was knocking my head against a brick wall in respect of energy costs. For example, for the past couple of months, we have seen oil prices going through the floor and companies are still gouging us. The Government takes a lot as well but companies are gouging us in terms of petrol and diesel week after week.

I am not sure about the situation in the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's constituency of Galway East but it was only in the last day or two that petrol and diesel prices remotely approximated the fall in wholesale prices due to the massive increase in production in the United States and Canada. The introduction of a huge new element in production in these countries has eased the vice grip of the Middle East. Disgracefully, gas prices also increased.

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