Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This morning we heard the announcement by Irish Water of its new seven-year plan, a key element of which is the decision to lay off between 1,200 and 1,500 people. This comes after the same entity created 700 additional jobs over and above those that were already in local authorities delivering water services and paid bonuses in respect of those 700 positions. It was also confirmed that there will be a flat-rate charge for the next seven years despite the fact the Government decided with Irish Water to spend €550 million on water meters that will, in essence, be redundant for the next seven years and perhaps beyond. It is a colossal waste of public funding. Irish Water has failed the EUROSTAT test when the rationale for setting it up in the first place was to have it off balance sheet. It no longer can be and there are very good reasons for that. Up to half the people have not paid their water charges and the conservation grant will be given to those who do not pay their water charges. By the way, the Government is even screwing up the giving out of the grant, which it cannot do properly. There are thousands of people ringing up and the form is impossible to decipher and follow through.

It is people's general taxation which has paid for this. From motor tax alone, €265 million has gone for the establishment and operational costs of Irish Water while next year it will be €316 million. If one takes the full total that has been spent, we are worse off by €800 million. Up to €800 million has been spent on this entity and not an extra cent has been spent on water infrastructure. Less has been spent over the past three years per annum on water infrastructure than was allocated in the previous three years.

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