Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The water charges issue has been debated more often than any other issue since the Thirty-second Dáil met on 10 March and it has generated the most passion, this evening being no exception. This is because it has been identified as a fault line between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin and between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Fianna Fáil's change in its position since the election from suspension to abolition of charges is encouraging this fault line. This change, if it is the decision of the Dáil next year, means that there is no incentive to conserve water, which is an important and essential natural resource.

This resource must be respected. We are blessed that we do not have a shortage of water. It must be treated and delivered to our tap or our toilet. There is a cost in producing safe water and upgrading and maintaining the infrastructure. We must use water wisely and seriously and we must stop using it as a political football. We must look at this issue as an essential service and decide if it has a value. The UN says that water is a human right and that we should all have access to water. We must balance this human right with the cost. A compromise must be reached. We should give everybody an adequate supply of water free of charge. We should meter water usage so it can be measured and we should charge for excessive use. Undoubtedly, this will encourage conservation.

We must also encourage water collection for non-essential use. In the construction of new housing, and there will be a great deal of construction in the next number of years, we must incorporate water conservation or water harvesting infrastructure in houses so the householders can collect the water that comes from the sky and use it for non-essential use. That is how to conserve water.

Irish Water was not established properly and it did not have a positive public relations promotion. Mistakes were made but that should not mean we throw the baby out with the bath water. We should be debating health, waiting lists and trolley queues. I believe people who are homeless would give their right arm to have a house and pay water charges rather than languish in a hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation or sleep on the street. Clean water delivered to one's home should be respected and conserved and paid for if excessively used. It should remain in public ownership.

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