Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath for introducing this Bill. The issue of Irish Water and the unjust water tax has not gone away, nor will it. As much as the Government would like to sweep its failures and those of Irish Water under the carpet, the people are not going to let that happen, and there are failures. The Government has come under significant public pressure on the issue of water charges. It has been forced to introduce the proposed lower rates, which is not something that it wanted to do but about which it had no choice. The protests keep on coming. This is all because the situation reverts back to one basic right, namely, the human right of free access to the provision of clean, fresh water and an adequate sewerage system.

Thankfully, the Bill allows us to debate this issue yet again and to give a voice to the hundreds of thousands of families that the Government so desperately tries to ignore. Election time will come, though, and ignoring the people will no longer be possible. We have heard a great deal of talk about democratic revolution, but there has been no such revolution in the Dáil. The democratic revolution is on the streets and at the ballot box by ordinary people who say that enough is enough. The continuing trends in the polls show this.

Sinn Féin supports the need for the issues in this Bill to be debated. Therefore, we believe that it should be allowed to proceed to Committee Stage. The Bill has a number of points of merit although, obviously, some of them are now outdated, given the fact that it has been on the Order Paper for a while.

First, there is no question but that the board of Irish Water, as a body that attracts so much public attention, should be subject to freedom of information requests. If the Government is stubborn enough to continue supporting the existence of Irish Water, the least it can do is afford the citizens of this State the courtesy of ensuring that the activities of the board are carried out in an open and transparent manner. I am glad that such requests can now be lodged.

In regard to the establishment of a fully independent water services ombudsman to deal with the performance and operations of Irish Water, it goes without saying that he or she would be a busy ombudsman. Sinn Féin has called for Irish Water to come within the remit of the public service Ombudsman. We believe that this office is best placed to deal with such complaints and issues that arise.

Although Sinn Féin supports the passage of this Bill to Committee Stage, I support the comments made earlier by my colleague, Deputy Brian Stanley. Our party position is clear. In government, we would abolish Irish Water and scrap the water charges. The Bill before the House today provides that Irish Water be held in public ownership and be only transferred to private ownership or public-private partnership via a referendum. Sinn Féin believes this commitment needs to be stronger. There must be a referendum to enshrine public ownership of water into the Constitution. The right to water and for that service to be protected deserves constitutional protection.

I note the proposed provision in this Bill relating to an insurance policy. Citizens have been turned into consumers by this Government. Therefore, the Government and Irish Water should have the courtesy of affording them the rights afforded to consumers. If this were the case, Irish Water should be responsible for the repair of leaks and the replacement of damaged infrastructure. I do not believe there is a need for an insurance-type system. What this farce has already cost the taxpayer to date is truly shocking. The spend on fixing leaks and replacing old pipes was measly compared to the amount wasted on the Irish Water call centre, consultants and other costs. An additional €539 million was also wasted on meters that are now redundant. The total amount wasted to date is approximately €800 million. Only €40 million was spent in each of the past four years on leaks and replacing pipes. Proper use of that €800 million would ensure double the mains replacement programme for 16 years. Imagine the difference that would make to water conservation.

The Government needs to lead, to stop offering snivelling excuses and drop the line that it is all the fault of Fianna Fáil. It can start by allowing this Bill to pass Second Stage and, thus, allow proper, in-depth debate on Committee Stage. As I said earlier, although Sinn Féin will be supporting the passage of this legislation to Committee Stage, this does not take away from the fact that the whole concept of the imposition of household water charges is wrong and that the privatisation of public utilities, such as water, is even more so.

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