John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy O'Rourke and the Acting Chairman once we manoeuvre the situation with the Chair.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this debate. I am pleased to support the Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016. It sets out a route to end the water charges regime. The failure to pass the EUROSTAT test and the low payment rates have undermined the basis of our water services model. Water charges failed in 2015, with only 53% of bills being paid, equating to an annual revenue of approximately €144 million. Last year, the water conservation grant cost approximately €100 million. There was an administration charge of €25 million and interest on repayments of a further €41 million. Expenditure was in the region of €166 million against income of €144 million, generating a loss.

The Bill reflects Fianna Fáil's agreement in facilitating a Fine Gael-led minority Government to see water charges suspended immediately and the decision on future charges to be decided by the Dáil. The Bill is a compromise. Members from all sides entered the election with their manifestos and policy positions on water and water charges. The Minister and his party did not win the election. Neither did we. We have different views on what should be done with water charges and Irish Water. It became clear that the dynamic of the Thirty-second Dáil was somewhat different than that of the Thirty-first, with a majority of Members favouring the abolition of the charges and many favouring the abolition of Irish Water. It is clear from listening to other Deputies' contributions that, despite having an electoral mandate and this being one of their policy positions, they failed to engage in the process. The Bill is a compromise, but it gives effect to what we set out to do. We did not win the election and we are not in government, but this was a key component of our campaign. While the Bill retains Irish Water, it suspends the conservation grant and establishes the legislation to suspend the charges.

Deputy Durkan asked what the long-term funding models for the delivery of water would be, but that is the point of establishing the expert commission. We are not walking away from the issue. This is not an irresponsible Bill. We understand Deputy Durkan's points about the need for future investment in water services.

It is part of a programme. Suspending the charges affords a window of opportunity, or timeframe, for Members of the House to engage, first through the expert commission and then through a committee of the House. The matter will be brought back to the Dáil within nine months, which I welcome. I am disappointed that not all Members engaged in the process to establish the programme. The vast majority of Members were of the view that the charges should be suspended.

I do not want to repeat many of the points made, but I must state we sometimes forget very quickly that is only a little over two years since the issue first arose. In October 2013, wintertime, the Irish Independentstated:

Dublin City Council said supplies could be cut off today from 6pm until 7am – two hours longer than yesterday – and that restrictions will remain until Monday. The shut-off comes during a busy mid-term week when Dublin is bustling with tourists and Halloween revellers...

The article quotes the city engineer as saying: "The problem is that the lake water is proving very difficult to treat – not because it's bad, but because of the characteristics of the water." He also stated: "Normally, Ballymore Eustace is a stable environment because it's a big, deep lake."

In Dublin the water supply is on a knife edge; there is a fine balance. At any given time, our usage is near capacity and there are not many spare resources. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan touched briefly on future economic and residential development, in respect of which there is a problem. It struck me that a conservation grant was given to households last year. If that money which amounted to a sum in the region of €100 million had been invested directly in repairing leaks or improving capacity, it might have had a far greater output in terms of the water supply in the Dublin area.

With regard to metering, much of the leakage occurs not necessarily in private properties but from main pipes along roads. Neighbourhood and block metering, which helps local authorities to identify leaks in areas, needs to be established and implemented in order that leaks can be identified quickly.

In June 2012 the Oireachtas committee produced a report. At the time the Minister's Department was stating 41% of water nationally was lost through leakages. I believe it used the expression "unaccounted for", which meant loss through leakages. From 2000 to 2010, my party in government invested in the region of €500 million per year in water services. Much of the investment was in sewage treatment services and to improve water quality. Of equal importance, particularly in the Dublin context, where the supply side is under significant pressure, is ensuring a significant investment programme to fix leaking pipes to reduce the rate of water leakage substantially.

I am pleased that the Bill is before the House. I will be very interested in seeing and working with the findings and recommendations of the commission and the Oireachtas committee.

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