Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's explanations in regard to the amendments leaves much to be desired. These amendments were supposedly well flagged, but they were well covered up and we are just beginning to see the game plan now. The Minister is giving permission to himself and the Government to take €540 million from motor tax into the Exchequer and by way of a fine technicality, they are trying to hide what they are doing. With the other hand, the Government is removing a similar amount of money from the Exchequer and handing it to Irish Water. They should not try to pretend otherwise. The fact is jumping out at us here that this is exactly what they are at.

Along with the €1.31 billion that the Government has put on the State's balance sheet so far, between what it did in December and what it has done to date this year, in other words in the past six and a half months, there is also off the balance sheet some €300 million borrowed by Irish Water from the private markets at three times the interest rate at which the State can borrow. Can the Minister not see when this is all added up that this is the worst and most expensive way to try to fund water services? Can he not see it gives the worst return and the worst results? Does the Government realise what has not been included in these figures? What is not included is the €539 million that the Government took, or borrowed, from the National Pensions Reserve Fund - a fund we should maintain - to install meters outside houses. That has not been mentioned. If that is included, we are running towards a figure of €2 billion.

Let us deal with the figures we have. If the meter installation programme had not happened, the Government would be saving that money, that is €539 million. That is a loan that will have to be repaid to the National Pensions Reserve Fund. We then have the €1.3 billion on the State's balance sheet, added in the past six and a half months, and then the €300 million plus borrowed by Irish Water on the private markets. All of this money will have to be repaid. Local authorities were providing water services for approximately €0.9 billion, between €860 million and €890 million per year in capital and operational funding. Now, just six months into the year we are already looking at a cost of €1.3 billion added to the State's balance sheet.

If the Government had left things as they were and tried to reform them, the operational funds could, being generous, have been covered by €500 million, with capital investment being approximately the same. This would have worked out at €1 billion per year and we would have seen €500 million going into fixing leaking pipes. It would have been cheaper to do that than do what is being provided for here. The Government has added cost upon cost because of the meters, which are the cash registers on the footpaths. That is what they are about. Will the Minister of State confirm that what this amendment does is to take €540 million from the local government fund, from the motor vehicle taxes, to put into the Exchequer, to make up for what is being taken out of the Exchequer with the other hand and put into Irish Water? Not alone that, there is no limit to how often this can be done. It can be done in subsequent years, in 2016, 2017, 2018 and so on. And if the Government wants to increase the amount taken, the Minister can come back to the House, if he is still here, and ask for that figure of €540 million to be increased. That is what is happening.

If the money was paid directly to Irish Water, if the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, wrote a cheque and handed it straight to John Tierney in Irish Water, the optics would not be good. Instead, the Government is bringing the funding by the circular route. It is bringing it into the Government coffers through the motor tax and then the cheque is handed out to Irish Water, on top of all of the other cheques. I pointed out to the Minister many times when Irish Water was being established that he was going to hand a blank cheque to Irish Water, all in order to get the system of charging up and running so as to get a revenue stream in place. Of course, the full cost of that to taxpayers and householders will not be revealed until after the election and that is the problem here.

What is being done here is all economic gymnastics. An example is the way money is being moved around and the writing off of rates for local authorities. This is totally unheard of. We also had the €500 million placed back on the State's balance sheet by way of a single line in a Bill before Christmas and all of the other changes made. All of the economic gymnastics being performed here are all being done to get this system up and running. Will the Minister of State confirm that the €540 million mentioned in the amendment is really about the transfer of the money to the Exchequer to provide for a similar amount to be taken out on the other side as a subvention for Irish Water?

The Minister of State has not answered the question about the amount being put on the State's balance sheet now, which is far in excess of anything put on the balance sheet prior to the establishment of Irish Water. That is being put there to fund water services. I ask the Minister of State to check that and also to check the figures on what was going into capital investment in water services during previous years. There is more money going towards water services now and a greater weight is being put on the State's balance sheet, contrary to the reason behind the setting up of Irish Water initially. We have finished in a position that is the worst possible. There are holes in the State's finances as a result, with more money on the balance sheet and more money demanded. Today, we are stitching in an amendment to try to get this money included under the radar to try to pull off another stroke. That is what this is about.

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