Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 2:

To insert the following after “its recommendations by the Oireachtas”:“believes that those who have paid their water charges in accordance with law should not now be unfairly disadvantaged compared to those who have not;

considers that, if the ongoing liability to pay is suspended, there would be no practical reality to pursuing outstanding unpaid charges;

concludes that in such circumstances the only fair approach would be to make a full refund to all those who have paid their water charges; and

agrees in principle to a referendum on a Constitutional amendment that commits to maintaining our public water supply and treatment systems, and our electricity and gas transmission and distribution networks, in public ownership.”

I wish to reiterate some points we made in this House on 27 April when we had statements on Irish Water. Some of those points are pertinent to tonight's debate. Law-abiding people who did pay will have to get their money back. That will mean Irish Water will have to reprocess well in excess of 2 million financial transactions.

Regardless of whether the charge is to be suspended or abolished, the Labour Party believes the Government must tell people how and when it will give them their money back. It may not suit political discourse at present but it is a matter of fact that Irish Water's investment has delivered 34 new treatment plants, 26 of which are for wastewater and eight for drinking water, as well as 73 upgrades involving 51 wastewater and 22 drinking water facilities. A further 47 water conservation projects have been completed and 452 km of pipe has been remediated. If there is a proposal to revert to the local authorities whereby funds would be divested solely through the Exchequer through those local authorities, one need look no further than County Roscommon as an example of where the old model simply did not work. I believe Deputy Fitzmaurice already has made reference to this point. I need not remind Members of the improvements it has made the lives of more than 17,000 people in County Roscommon who were on boil water notices. The residents of Castlerea, for example, were subject to a boil water notice from November 2009 to June 2013. If the proposal is that it would revert to the local authorities, which is gaining credence in some circles, and that funding would come from the Exchequer and that people are already paying for water through their taxation, why then is it that these issues were not addressed at that time?

The Labour Party amendment and the addendum seek to speak for those who did pay their water charges. We believe that those who have paid their charges in accordance with the law should not now be unfairly disadvantaged compared with those who have not. We believe that if the ongoing liability to pay is suspended, there would be no practical reality to pursuing outstanding unpaid charges and that in such circumstances, the only fair approach would be to make a full refund to all those who have paid their water charges. Moreover, the Labour Party agrees in principle to a referendum on a constitutional amendment that commits to maintaining Ireland's public water supply and treatment systems, as well as its electricity and gas transmission and distribution networks in public ownership. The Labour Party has already tabled a Bill in this regard.

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