Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All countries, including Ireland, need to act sustainably in managing, protecting and providing this fundamental natural resource. We all agree on that. We need to be fully cognisant of these challenges as part of the debate on future water services funding. This is why we need to focus the debate purely on water in the months ahead and not people's own personal agendas. Behind the concept of water charges is the principle of establishing a link between the use of an environmentally precious resource and funding the environmental and economic cost of accessing and supplying it to our businesses, our communities and our homes. Without a link between use and funding through user charges many citizens' awareness of incurring these costs is greatly diminished, not all citizens but certainly some. If one talks to schools they do not realise that it is costing almost €1 billion per year to treat and provide water. They do not always realise that. When one walks around housing estates one can see people washing their cars with water that is as expensive as Ballygowan. They do not fully realise the connection there and that is why a link to a charge of some sort, allowing for plenty of free use and so on, will show there is a consequence to wasting water. It must be understood that not everyone else has as much water as we do in Ireland and that this is a problem in many other countries. There is an economic desire to save water also because we must spend a lot of money in order to develop the capacity to treat the water. If we can stop the leakage and wastage of water we would need spend a lot less to treat it in the first place. That is an important point because apart from doing the right thing, public money could be saved.

In parallel to the deliberative process outlined by my colleague the Minister, Deputy Coveney, the Government recognises that public confidence in Irish Water needs to increase, which is putting it mildly. I think we can all agree on that. This will take time. During the Seanad debate I said, and I will say it again - I know I am not talking to the audience who do not want to listen to me on this point - that in the months ahead, when we are going to make a decision about Irish Water and vote on this, members of the public or those in this House actually read the business case behind the concept and have an opinion on what we are trying to do here. Not everyone here has done that. I accept that some Members may have read it but not all have done so. There was always going to be an initial cost for the first seven or eight years but over time it was going to pay back its costs. Look at the business case and look at the reports on how Irish Water is doing its job and ask if it is making a success of it. I accept that people do not like it. I am not asking that people like it or love it but I am asking them to look at the facts and the business case to see if it adds up before they make a final decision on this in the months ahead. I know that Members have decided how they are going to vote tonight, but I am referring to the months ahead.

It will take time to get people to accept Irish Water but in my view it will be done, not only through the utility’s work, but also through regular public information, analysis and scrutiny of the utility’s performance and reports on its work. In this context, the Government’s confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fáil contains a commitment to improving the transparency and accountability of Irish Water. Once established, the advisory body, which is mentioned in our amendment to the motion, will publish advice to the Government and give quarterly reports to an Oireachtas committee on Irish Water’s performance in implementing its business plan for 2014-21. The advice will pay particular regard to cost reduction and efficiency improvements; procurement, remuneration and staffing policies; infrastructure delivery and leakage reductions; improvements in water quality, including the elimination of boil water notices; and responsiveness to the needs of communities and enterprise.

As I have said before in response to questions from colleagues in this House and in the Seanad, Irish Water has to engage with Members, regardless of political background. If Members have questions or concerns on local or national issues the information should come forward. If I am being told in debates that local authorities are waiting for information or guidance then that should not happen and it is not on. Everybody has to up their game around information on Irish Water. The work of the external advisory body will, I believe, contribute to raising awareness of Irish Water’s significant progress to date in improving and upgrading the deficient public treated water system. Last year the utility ensured that some 22,000 people saw an end to their long-term boil water notices. It removed the threat of contamination from four drinking water supplies that supply 220,000 people and replaced over 500 km of leaking pipeline. Irish Water continued to increase the spare water supply capacity in Dublin, from the low base of 2% which it inherited to almost 10%, closer to the standard in European capital cities of 15%. This also puts the city in a better place to win and create more jobs in the future and to sustain our tourism market. The utility also notified customers with probable lead piping, identified through the domestic metering programme of the dangers, with 34,000 households notified to date. The €408 million it invested last year in core infrastructure is a 19% increase on 2014 and contributed to the delivery of new water and wastewater treatment plants, all of which will help make water supplies more secure and increase our capacity in terms of wastewater treatment.

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