Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wonder what will happen in Northern Ireland, where a metering programme is being put in place. Our colleagues from Sinn Féin are not here to debate that matter.

As part of our review of the water charging system and water sector reform programme, the Government responded to people's concerns about issues of Irish Water's governance and the customer experience. A single unitary Ervia board has been established and this comprises members chosen for their expertise and particular competence. Performance-related pay rewards are not being applied and a review of the pay model is under way. PPS numbers are no longer required as part of the customer application process and additional services, apart from those relating to meter reads, meter tests and charges for connection to the system, are being provided.

One issue in respect of which there is near unanimous agreement on both sides of the House is that which relates to the absolute imperative to keep water services and infrastructure in public ownership. The Government responded to calls in relation to this matter in November. Above and beyond the commitment to public ownership enshrined in the 2013 legislation, the Water Services Act 2014 requires that any future proposal to change public ownership of the utility be put to the people via a plebiscite.

This Government is fully committed to keeping Irish Water in public ownership. I do not know of one person in the Oireachtas who wishes to privatise water services or infrastructure.

One of the main objectives of the Government's water sector reforms has been increased conservation. High levels of leakage in the public water network and on the customer side need to be tackled. Households can play their part in conserving water, and the introduction of the water conservation grant will play an important role in increasing and encouraging conservation. The less water we waste the more we can protect our environment, lower household bills and reduce the cost of managing the public water and waste water systems.

The €100 grant which will be paid to households that have registered with Irish Water can be used towards buying some of the many devices available to conserve water, such as water butts to recycle water, water displacement devices to reduce water flow in toilets or aerators to reduce water flow from taps. The grant can also be used towards repairing a household plumbing system, thereby reducing leakage. Even households that do not use Irish Water's services are entitled to this grant, which will ensure the conservation drive extends to all households. Those with a private well or in a group water scheme, or with a septic tank, can use the grant towards testing the quality of their well's water or de-sludging septic tanks. I can confirm that 30 June 2015 will be the deadline for registering with Irish Water in order to be eligible for receipt of the water conservation grant this year. If a household has not registered by this date, it will not be able to receive the €100 grant from the Department of Social Protection from September 2015. The Department of Social Protection will be communicating separately with households from July onwards in this regard. The final date of 30 June for 2015 payments has been chosen to take account of the fact that there will be some changes in residency up to that point. More details will follow throughout the month of April.

Irish Water is almost two years in existence and it has been the national water services authority since January 2014. Within this short period of time it has begun to make inroads into addressing some of the deep seated deficiencies within our public water and waste water systems. It is making improvements to the quality of services the public now receive. One of the major reasons this reform programme has been necessary has been the need for a sustained increased infrastructure investment to upgrade and improve our water networks. This is now happening and I expect those on the Opposition side who have long called for more investment will now welcome the fact that Irish Water is delivering this increase. This year investment will increase by 26% on last year, from €340 million to €430 million. Over the course of Irish Water's first capital investment programme for 2014 to 2016, some €1.4 billion will be spent on improving existing water infrastructure and delivering new projects, including the first fix scheme. This average of €450 million per annum compares with the €310 million invested in the final year of local authority delivered services and projects.

The decisions on where to invest are linked with decisions on how to manage assets. The longer an asset can function effectively, the longer we can defer new builds and control the capital investment requirements. The utility is already taking new approaches. Central strategic planning is now based on accurate asset performance data and full control of all investment decisions. It involves planning investment consistently across the asset base rather than on large scale, once off investments. An example of this is the proposed Ringsend wastewater treatment plant upgrade, in respect of which an alternative approach to the treatment plant extension will save the company €170 million in capital investment. That is almost as much as the entire cost of establishing the new water utility.

The company is also achieving greater economies of scale by acting as one national utility rather than separate 31 separate water services authorities. This is reducing the costs of water services for customers. Some €12 million in procurement savings have been realised in the company's first year alone. In the area of electricity supply, a major cost in the production of drinking water, Irish Water's current renewable and efficient energy initiatives aim to reduce costs by 33% by 2020. The high national leakage rate in our public water network is something that has been well documented. All sides agree that the current rate of 49% is unacceptable. Irish Water is developing a regional shared service model approach to key challenges such as this. Annual improvement targets with local authorities are set as part of annual service plans. The domestic metering programme is identifying where leakage exists through active constant flow alarms on water meters and Irish Water will prioritise fixing the largest of these customer side leaks between the boundary of the property and up to a metre from the dwelling through the first fix free programme. The Government has allocated €51 million for this programme with the aim of reducing customer side leakage, which amounts to approximately one seventh of all unaccounted for water. Under the programme, Irish Water will provide customers with free leak investigation and repair of external supply pipe leaks identified on their property, subject to the terms of the scheme. It will prioritise notifying the largest leaks first because they offer the greatest potential for water savings. Currently the largest 1,000 leaks account for over 20 million litres of water per day. One thousand leaks account for over 1% of all water produced every day in Ireland. The utility has completed a trial of first fix repairs in Kildare and Dublin city which provided important information on leaks, including the finding that 39% of leaks were on external supply pipes and 61% of leaks were attributable to internal issues. A total of 140 repairs of external leaks were completed under the trial, with estimated savings of 819 cu. m expected through these repairs. This is equivalent to the normal usage of approximately 2,700 houses. I welcome the interim allocation by the Commission for Energy Regulation of €3.4 million to cover the initial three months of operation of the first fix free scheme and look forward to the outcome of the commission's public consultation on the terms of the scheme, which will run in parallel with the first three months of the scheme.

One initiative which illustrates the kind of long-term approach to water services delivery that did not occur before is the work Irish Water has done on producing a draft 25 year water services strategic plan. This plan contains the following six key themes - customer service; clean safe drinking water; effective treatment of wastewater; a sustainable environment; supporting economic growth; and investing for the future. It sets out a strong and ambitious vision for the high standards Irish Water aims to achieve for the public water system between now and 2040. It demonstrates the new approach Irish Water is adopting to ensure the country has a reliable, high quality supply of drinking water and satisfactory wastewater services to protect public health and the environment. It is not just big on vision but also grounded in tangible goals aimed at improving the services the public expect. In the area of leakage, for example, Irish Water aims to significantly reduce the levels of unaccounted for water from 49% to less than 38% by the end of 2021 and to between 18% and 22% by 2040, which is an acceptable economic level of leakage. The plan contains the following goals - make boil water notices a thing of the past; upgrade waste water treatment systems; identify customer leaks to help households manage water usage; identify lead in homes with a view to removing lead piping in the network; and improve customer service. Irish Water also wants to reduce the number of treatment plants from 856 to 780 by 2021, with a further reduction in time. This will provide water for large geographical areas and reduce operating costs. I urge everybody who has an interest in the future of water services to have a say on the plan and provide comments before the closing date of 17 April 2015.

Another example of the utility's long-term approach is its publication of the recent needs report for the proposed eastern and midlands region water supply project. The report showed that projected demand for water in Dublin alone is expected to increase by over 50% by 2050, which is well beyond the existing supply capacity of the region. Even after fully utilising available water supply from existing sources, and with a parallel drive on water conservation and leakage control, approximately 215 million litres per day in excess of existing capacity will be needed by 2050 for the Dublin region alone. This figure rises to 330 million litres per day when the surrounding region is included. The report's findings are the result of the inadequate investment in water supply infrastructure in the last half century, despite the fact that the need for comprehensive action to address future water supply needs in Dublin and its surrounding region has been recognised since the mid-1990s. Water outages are highly disruptive to communities and the economy, which depends on more than 200,000 water intensive jobs. The report estimates that recent outages in the Dublin water supply area between 2010 and 2014 typically cost the Irish economy in excess of €78 million per day. We all recall the international spotlight that fell on Dublin during the 2013 Web Summit, when restaurants, hotels and bars catering for the needs of thousands of visitors to Dublin faced water shortages. I welcome this report and the current public consultation on the issue. Irish Water's focus on delivering a new water source for the eastern seaboard and the midlands is welcome and represents another step in the right direction.

I am not trying to suggest that Irish Water has not had its problems - far from it. However, it is only fair that we should acknowledge what it has achieved and what it has done well in such a short period.

The new funding model for water services, including the introduction of domestic water charges, is also being implemented. Irish Water has secured agreement with several financial institutions on lending facilities This is critical in ensuring Irish Water accesses the level of third party funding needed to invest the required €600 million per annum identified.

One of the Opposition's main arguments against the introduction of water charges has been that central taxation should fund water services. The decades of under investment in water infrastructure in this country has shown us the consequences of central taxation being the main provider of water services. The legacy is one of boil water notices, high leakage and inadequate water treatment capacity and wastewater treatment facilities. Also, numerous water supplies are at risk of non-compliance with drinking water regulations, a problem currently affecting almost 940,000 people.

The only way we will make the necessary investment in our water infrastructure is by having a dedicated funding stream for water services. This has been created through ensuring that those who use the system pay directly for the services and investment required. When State loan finance, which will be repaid, is excluded, the financial support to Irish Water from State sources in 2015 will be less than would have been provided to the services if they had remained with local authorities, despite the fact that the capital programme is almost 40% greater. It is the new utility model and the new domestic charges that are driving this increased investment. This financing model ensures that critical water infrastructure projects do not have to join the waiting list of priorities that already includes housing, education, health and social protection payments.

We are making progress, but the journey to transform the sector is far from complete. The next milestone will be reached in April when Irish Water begins billing its domestic customers. This complex and large task requires the billing of 1.5 million domestic customers. Never before has a single utility had to develop a customer billing database for so many customers. In a project of this scale, despite the intensive work and planning, it would unrealistic to expect the process to advance perfectly. However, Irish Water has assured the Department that customer service will be at the heart of this endeavour and that it will work with all customers to ensure that any issues arising are resolved as quickly as possible.

A key element of the process of building an accurate customer database has been the engagement between Irish Water and customers and I urge all households who have not registered with Irish Water to do so as soon as possible. Without registering, households will not be assured of an accurate bill, but will automatically receive the default multi-adult household bill of €260 per year. Nor will they be eligible for the Government's €100 water conservation grant. Some 1.24 million households have now responded to the Irish Water customer application campaign and I would encourage the remaining households that have not registered to do so as soon as possible.

It was not sustainable to continue with the water system as it was. Future generations would not thank us for creating even more critical problems in the future by not addressing issues we must now address. The suggestions in the motion moved by the Technical Group that we abolish Irish Water and water charges will do nothing to help the 940,000 people who depend on water treatment plants that are at risk, and neither will they improve the lives of those in 44 urban areas throughout the country who live with the reality of untreated sewage being discharged into local bodies of water. The people and businesses of Dublin would not thank us for abandoning a reform programme that could expedite a more secure water supply for them. Abolishing water charges or the utility driven improvements in the system would be of little comfort to any of us while we endure countless more reports of leakage levels amounting to almost half of all drinking water produced, and nor would such rash decisions help us in explaining ourselves to the European Commission against charges of insufficient progress in the EU infringement case against Ireland over the need for improvements at 66 wastewater treatment plants across the country.

There are many problems within our water systems. From lead pipes to leakage and from pollution to water source protection, the journey to secure our water supplies and wastewater treatment into the future requires a long-term strategic approach. The economic regulatory process will play an important role in ensuring that Irish Water's progress in delivering an efficient water system is benchmarked against international competitors. There can be no question of abandoning the progress made to date. This would mean putting capital projects concerned with delivering drinking water, fixing leakage and constructing new pipes and sewage treatment plants back onto the long list of demands competing for finite public resources.

The alternative to the Opposition's motion this evening is a sustainable funding model for a public water system that is fit for purpose and is managed and operated by a single national utility. By embedding the reforms we have implemented, we can remove the risks and deficiencies within the public water system and ensure a secure water future for our country. We need to make the investments and improvements now that will ensure that we and generations to come have a secure, high quality drinking water supply. We need this for families and to ensure public health and industry are protected. This will help deliver more jobs and industry and will protect our agriculture and food protection so that our economy can continue to expand.

When we think of the over 200,000 jobs in this country that rely on water intensive processes, be they in ICT, pharma, clean-tech, agrifood or the tourism industry, we should be aware how vital a secure supply of quality water is, and, likewise, plans for economic growth, perhaps in the tourism sector, rely on our clean, green image. Plans for the agrifood sector, through new beef export markets or the ending of milk quotas, also rely on secure water supplies. In supporting these reforms, we can increase investment in wastewater infrastructure to ensure less pollution going into our rivers, lakes and seas. This, too, is vital for protecting public health and the environment.

By entrusting our public water system to a single national utility, we can secure a future based on sustainable management of water as a vital and precious resource. We can have confidence in our ability to address new challenges facing our public water system arising from a growing economy, a rising population and a climate that is changing. We can make Ireland a water secure country and economy that will attract even more water-intensive industries here as other countries become more water stressed.

The Government's water reforms are about securing investment in our water system so that the public can receive a reliable, secure supply of quality drinking water and satisfactory levels of wastewater treatment for our long-term future. I urge everyone in the House to think about this issue and to support the Government's amending motion, which favours long-term thinking and solutions for a more water secure and prosperous future rather than support a short-term proposal that offers no answers or security for future generations.

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