Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The position of the Green Party on water has been clear and consistent over the years. First, we believe there is a right to water, and that is paramount above everything else. Water is not a commercial product; it is vital for life. We recommend a referendum to ensure the water supply is forever within public, rather than private, ownership, recognising the right to water. We believe we should go further and provide a basic allowance to ensure every citizen has access to water for his or her basic needs, including washing, care and food. There should be a charge for usage above the basic amount because we believe in the very simple principle that monitoring and measuring water usage and putting a price on it not only raises revenue that helps to create the water services we need but also, and more important, stops us wasting what is a precious resource. In the end, that will save more money. It is a more intelligent economic system. Not having any price means there is a real risk of wasting water, as we do in this country. We must not waste water anymore because, as we know, Dublin is very close to a shortage. Across the country in our polluted water and wastewater systems, especially where the water and wastewater plants are integrated, there is a fundamental problem that requires massive investment. While we can pay for some of this through general taxation, relying exclusively on general taxation would mean we would lose out on the savings we would make from pushing conservation.

We believe that if we are to value something, we must measure it. We do not believe it would make sense to throw away the metering system we have installed. It would be a waste of money. We require a fundamental change with regard to the environment and our use of natural resources. We must measure and monitor consumption and take it seriously.

Last but not least, we need to move towards a river-based management system whereby we manage our use of natural resources with an eye to nature and how it works. That system, whereby we go right from the mountaintop to the sea, must account for flood management. We must consider this system because of the carbon and climate change effects. We must start engaging in land management and using our natural resources in a clever way involving long-term thinking. Part of this involves putting a price on water so it will not be wasted and so we will know what is happening to our entire system. That has been our position from the very start and one we presented in detail to the commission last week in our submission. We look forward to talking to other parties, with their various views, about what should be done next.

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