Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes that a majority of Deputies elected to the Thirty-second Dáil made clear pre-election pledges to end water charges;

and calls on the Government to:

— immediately abolish domestic water charges;

— establish a public water and sanitation board to deliver water on the basis of need; and

— set a date for a referendum to enshrine the public ownership of water services in the Constitution of Ireland.

I am sharing time.

The Right2Water movement has been one of the most important social movements in recent history. It has mobilised hundreds of thousands of people across the State in national demonstrations and local demonstrations in every town and parish and it has been behind a massive objection to what people rightly believe is an unjust and unfair tax.

However, the Right2Water movement is also important because it has brought together communities, trade unions and politicians from a variety of perspectives. In doing so, it has kept the issue of water charges and the debacle that is Irish Water on the agenda. A large number of Deputies recently elected to the House signed up to the Right2Water policy principles in advance of the general election. Others, often under pressure from the vast mobilisation of popular opinion, made clear commitments to abolish Irish Water and end water charges. Thanks to this movement throughout the State in recent years, a majority of Deputies in the Thirty-second Dáil are opposed to water charges and want to see Irish Water scrapped.

The motion we are debating is an unusual Private Members' motion in the sense that it was not drafted by a particular political party. It was drafted on behalf of the Right2Water movement that many of us belong to. It seeks to give a clear voice to the hundreds of thousands of people who support our aims. The motion was drafted by Deputies from Sinn Féin, Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit, Social Democrats, Independents 4 Change and others. It was also drafted to match the manifesto commitments of all Deputies who, during the election campaign, committed to scrap Irish Water and end water charges.

We are realistic and understand how Standing Orders work. We understand that we cannot table a repeal Bill on the floor. Therefore, we have to make do with a Private Members' motion. The value of the motion is not only that it gives popular expression to the will of a majority of the electorate but that its passing would put considerable pressure on a Government which, on this issue, is clearly not listening to the democratic will of the people. Irrespective of what has been said thus far in the debate on the motion outside the Chamber, I urge all Deputies to actively consider supporting the motion now.

At the heart of the Right2Water movement is not only opposition to an unfair and unjust tax but a belief that water is a human right that should be provided on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. We reject the drive at home and throughout the world to commodify the provision of water services. We do not believe domestic water charges are socially just. Nor do we believe they are the best way to promote the conservation of what we all understand to be a scarce resource. We believe that water should be provided on the basis of need and not ability to pay, that water and sanitation services should be funded through general taxation and commercial charges and that the public ownership and management of water services must be protected in the Constitution. We also believe that water conservation would be far better pursued in the first instance by fixing our decrepit and leaking water system and then by investing seriously in real conservation measures in homes, public buildings and businesses.

I imagine no one believes our water and sanitation systems are fit for purpose and that we will hear as much from all sides of the debate in the coming two days. We know that 121 water treatment plants need urgent upgrading. We know 156 wastewater treatment plants are too small and many are in breach of EU regulations. We have all seen the graphic images of commercial and domestic waste being pumped into our rivers and seas. We should ask ourselves why this is the case. The answer is simple. It is because, for decades, Governments led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael refused to invest in water and sanitation infrastructure, just as they refused to invest in our health system, our housing system and other vital front-line public services. Now, the same politicians who were responsible for the crisis in this vital service are pleading with us to follow them on their fool's course to rectify the problem. We are told that throughout the European Union and the OECD the Irish Water model has been proven to work. Thanks to policy interventions of the European Commission, we are moving ever closer to a fully commercialised and commodified model of water service provision. We are told this is more efficient, but what we are not told is the human cost of this so-called efficiency. When we take a vital public service that has been provided on the basis of need and transform it into a service for which people have to pay, only one thing that is sure to happen, and that is inequality. It may not happen in a week, a month or a year, but inequality in access to water is what will follow this failed policy. In 2013 in a report to the Department, the ESRI made clear that water poverty was a real prospect of any charging regime introduced in this State. Deputies who maintain that that would never happen in this fine State should look at our health system and the levels of inequality as a result of access to health care being determined by ability to pay rather than medical need. They should look at the crisis in our housing system, under which a roof over one's head is determined by ability to pay and not by access to housing as a right. We could go on with examples from education, child care and all other front-line services. I do not accept that we cannot have world-class water and sanitation systems in public ownership funded through general taxation that are socially just and environmentally sustainable. That is why I am a member of the Right2Water movement and that is why I support this motion.

I will take the final three minutes of my shared time to refer to the two amendments, particularly the amendment from my colleagues from Fianna Fáil. I pulled out an interesting publication this morning and was leafing through the Fianna Fáil election manifesto. It is an interesting document and it is worth reminding the House what it states. There are four separate references in the Fianna Fáil election manifesto to the subject of water. All four state exactly the same thing, that is, a commitment to abolish Irish Water and end water charges. This is the case in every mention. Exhibit B in this sorry tale of yet another Fianna Fáil flip-flop on the issue of water is its agreement with Fine Gael. What does it state? It states, "The Government will establish an External Advisory Body on a statutory basis to build public confidence in Irish Water". The Fianna Fáil manifesto makes four references to scrapping the failed entity, yet the party has signed up to a deal with Fine Gael to rebuild confidence in it.

In case anyone is under any illusion about water charges, the agreement states, "The Government will establish within eight weeks of its appointment an Expert Commission to make recommendations for the sustainable long-term funding model for the delivery of domestic water and wastewater services". Of course this leaves the door open to water charges. It is a far cry from the second paragraph of the Fianna Fáil amendment, which mentions "the minority Government facilitation arrangement which sets out a clear path for an end to water charges in accordance with the wishes of a majority of Dáil Éireann". Deputy Cowen should note that these two documents do not match; they are not saying the same thing. The Fianna Fáil amendment to be tabled this evening is fundamentally dishonest.

People in the Chamber have a clear choice. Those who honestly and genuinely believe that Irish Water is a good thing, that it is doing a good job and represents value for money to the taxpayer and that domestic water charges should continue should vote with their principles and support the Government amendment. However, Deputy Cowen and his colleagues should note that those of us who campaigned to oppose Irish Water and water charges have a clear choice today and tomorrow to speak against water charges, to vote against them and increase the pressure on the minority in this House who believe that water charges and Irish Water should continue. They have the choice to listen to the will of the people and scrap the charges. Any suggestion that the Fianna Fáil amendment is consistent with the pledges the party made to the electorate in the election campaign is fundamentally dishonest. That is why I will not support the Fianna Fáil amendment or indeed the Government amendment.

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