Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

It is clear in the course of the debate that two major mistakes have been made. The first is on the referendum. During the course of the debate, the Minister's refusal to insert the word 'shall' instead of 'may' was unearthed but he has now changed his mind, which is good.

The second concerns the €100 grant, which the Government will abolish in no time if it gets through because it is so cumbersome and costly to implement. Now, it looks like the Government is making another serious mistake setting up a monster commission to take complaints and refusing to incorporate everyone who uses water into the complaints procedure.

Who do people go to right now if they have a problem with their water? I would love the Minister to answer. Last week, in my estate a woman had a major leak in her house with thousands of litres pumping out. She contacted Irish Water but was told that it was not the responsibility of that body. She contacted her council and was told it was not its responsibility. Meanwhile, the water was leaking to beat the band when this was supposed to be about conservation. Eventually, the fire brigade attended and closed the gap. It appears young people are getting their hands on keys to meters and pipes and opening them up, causing leaks. It would be great if people knew who to contact.

When talking about a complaints procedure, the Minister knows tens of thousands people have no intention of registering to become customers. They are vehemently opposed to the establishment of Irish Water and the privatisation of the service and opposed to paying for water a second time and the commodification of water. The Minister intends to exclude these people from making a complaint to CER. In a section of the Bill, the Minister states that a person is not entitled to make a complaint unless registered with Irish Water as a customer. If someone has a serious leak in the next year, they will be denied service.

Before the Minister got his hands on it, if people had leaks or flooding in their homes they knew who to call. The local authority provided service and did not question whether people had registered or paid. The local authority just dealt the problem. By setting this up, it shows the Minister commodifying and privatising the system. What about people who cannot afford to register? Will they be denied a water service or will their complaints be dealt with?

Most companies set up a complaints department rather than people having to go to a separate agency to have complaints dealt with.

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