Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy Brady.

I will start by assuring Deputy Micheál Martin that any outrage expressed by me will be nothing less than genuine. Imagine the scene of a seaside town, families strolling on the beach and children and adults alike engaged in various water activities. If it was a sunny day, this would be a hot spot for tourists and locals but what if untreated raw sewage was in those waters? What if one was swimming and could see raw sewage right beside one? Surely this could not happen in Ireland, the island where we pride ourselves on our attractive beaches and lovely coastlines. Only 30 km from here, this is a reality because it is happening in Rush. This is not breaking news. This was not even breaking news last year or the year before. The EPA's urban wastewater report has repeatedly confirmed that the practice continues in Rush and the failure to properly treat sewage can pose a risk to human health and the aquatic environment.

The population of almost 10,000 who live Rush has been waiting years to be connected to the sewerage treatment scheme that serves Portrane, Donabate and Lusk. Delays to this have meant that the pumping of raw sewage into the sea is the rule rather than the exception. While money was allocated to the scheme in 2008, it is expected that work on the sewage plant will start only in the third quarter of this year, giving a completion date of sometime in 2018 or 2019. From the allocation of the funds initially, the residents of Rush will have been waiting ten years before the work is completed. Add to that the countless years of campaigning and lobbying that went on before that. These delays on the scheme are unacceptable.

If we juxtapose this heel dragging and disregard for our environment and health, with the extravagant waste of public moneys on water metering, the quango that is Irish Water and the enthusiasm of Fine Gael and the Labour Party to burden working families with water charges, the community in Rush is justifiably angry about it. While Irish Water has been quick to put in meters and send bills, the residents of Rush would be far better served if Irish Water focused its efforts on dealing with the major environmental issue of raw sewage being pumped into the Irish Sea. If as much time and effort were put into dealing with the countless Environmental Protection Agency reports and cases concerning compliance with the EU wastewater treatment directive as has been put into the blinkered view on water charges, the residents of Rush and the surrounding areas would have this serious blight alleviated by now. I guess raw sewage pumping into our seas is not as important as squeezing a few bob out of hard-pressed families.

Water charges are a major issue for families and communities across the State. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to express their views. People voted on the issue in huge numbers only two months ago. Their direction was clear: water charges need to go. Last night on "Prime Time", Deputy Dara Calleary said, "We want to see Irish Water completely reformed." Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are talking about establishing an independent commission to examine Irish Water and the retention of the charging regime. This is not good enough. They are tinkering with a totally failed enterprise as part of their political play acting. They have no plans to replace it. The phrase, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet", springs to mind. The deal being cooked by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil smells dodgy.

Temporarily suspending water charges is not abolition. Sinn Féin's mandate is to abolish Irish Water. We want an independent commission, post abolition. We want a public water utility that is enshrined in public ownership and that best serves Irish citizens, not a rehash of a broken and wasteful Irish Water model. Anything less is unacceptable. The starting point must be the abolition of the household water charge. Fianna Fáil is willing to consider a temporary suspension of water charges. When campaigning in the general election, due to enormous pressure and because it was being raised consistently at doorsteps across the State, Fianna Fáil changed its position and campaigned against water charges.

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