Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and carry it back to her family in a plastic container with water that is not always suitable for drinking. This girl and her family know the true value of water. It is precious and gives life, but only if it is clean.

Here in our little country, most of us are privileged to turn on the tap in our kitchens and fill our glass with clean purified water. We do not even think of the journey and the process that water goes through before it comes out of the tap. I am fully aware that still today some people in this country do not have this privilege and cannot drink their tap water due to contamination.

The Environmental Protection Agency's report in 2013 clearly stated that more than 23,000 people, on 20 public supplies, were on boil water instructions; there were 121 "at risk" supplies out of 978 affecting almost 940,000 people; and in 44 urban areas, sewage was being discharged untreated, causing a major risk of pollution in our rivers and lakes. Those were shocking figures but they will be addressed by Irish Water. Irish Water is committed to removing the boil water notices through new and better water treatment plants in the affected areas. Many of the Deputies know where those areas are and I do not have to announce them. The bottom line is that serious investment is required to carry out the necessary repairs and water treatment processes right across the country. This has been ignored for many years. We are the only country in the OECD with no domestic water charges.

Fianna Fáil under Jack Lynch abolished water rates in 1977, and today we have more than 800 km of pipes in Dublin city alone which are 100 years old or more and they are in a deplorable state. The rest of the country’s network is in a similar state. The national leakage rate of water into our soil, rivers and gardens is more than 49%. That is a shocking figure in this day and age. I am amazed when I go to the supermarket to see people buying crates of bottles of water and some of those people, whom I know, refuse to pay their water bill.

Our attitude to water has to change in this country. It is not free. There are many people who understand why water charges are necessary and they want to comply. The Government’s revised water charges package, which was announced last November, provided clarity on this issue. Customers will pay fixed charges until the end of 2018. There is a simple and more affordable charging structure in place of two capped charges with a charge of €160 for a single person household or €260 for a household of two or more persons. Water conservation is also encouraged, and households have the opportunity to pay less than the capped bill. They can also avail of a €100 water conservation grant. Those who want to pay but are in financial difficulty will be able to avail of an easy-pay option and instalment plan, as is available for many other utility bills we pay on a regular basis. Those who do not register and do not pay will not be able to avail of the €100 water conservation grant and will be liable for a late payment fee.

Furthermore, the Government has given a clear commitment that Irish Water will remain in public ownership. I will repeat that as it is very important: the Government has given a clear commitment that Irish Water will remain in public ownership. It included a provision in the Water Services Act 2014 that will require any future proposal to change public ownership of Irish Water to be put to the people. That is an important provision.

As for the demands laid down in tonight’s motion by Members of the Opposition, and their calls for mass non-payment, I do not accept they are representative of the majority of Irish people. Irish people have never been found wanting when it comes to paying their way. I hear that on the doorsteps on a daily basis particularly from old age pensioners.

They say to me that they are citizens of the country and it is time they paid for water. I will not support this motion.

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