Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is with great pleasure that I support this motion to abolish water charges and Irish Water, and to call for a referendum to safeguard water resources by securing them in public ownership.

I am here today in no small part due to the historic water charges movement which demolished the Fine Gael Government's attempt to privatise the water service. From the beginning, Fine Gael shaped Irish Water as the precursor to a for-profit private enterprise. It did not want a utility that would provide clean and safe water efficiently. It did not want to fix the antiquated water infrastructure. It did not want to conserve water or limit the amount of treated water used. It just wanted to set up a billing operation so that when payments were successfully forced on the population, it would be ripe for selling off to the highest bidder.

We can see this in the order of the party's priorities. Did we see Fine Gael quickly move to fix and replace pipes or to upgrade water and sewage treatment plants? Did we see it roll out grants to retrofit water-saving devices and plumbing in peoples' homes? Instead, we saw the scandal of paying millions to consultants, the introduction of expensive billing procedures, but most of all, there was an attempt to try to force meters onto every home in Ireland to ensure the money started flowing, whatever about the water.

The masses of Irish people who made sacrifices to bail out the banking system had simply had enough. They were weary but determined that they would defeat the Government by protesting against the installation of water meters, by refusing to pay the charges as double taxation and by taking to the streets in their tens and hundreds of thousands in demonstrations up and down the country.

The collapse in income for Irish Water, a fall of 21% in the last quarter, shows that the retreat of the Government has turned into a rout, as those who were coerced into paying have joined the boycott and also refused to pay. While the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties have threatened to pursue people for unpaid water bills, the reality is that those are uncollectible debts for money squandered on overpaid consultants and useless meters. Instead, we should consider pursuing the former Ministers, Phil Hogan, and Deputy Alan Kelly, for recklessly wasting the money poured down the Irish Water drain over the past five years.

Water charge bills and penalties should now be cancelled and those who have paid should be reimbursed with an apology for any duress. One of the greatest social movements in history has shaped the political landscape forever. The voice of people power is clear, as is their victory. We should abolish Irish Water and abolish the water charges.

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