Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing my time with Deputy Eamon Ryan.

After years of wrangling, grandstanding, fake fights and false bravado, we have a report. Since the day the Opposition walked out of this Chamber en massein December 2013, the inability of the Government and particularly its predecessor to listen to voices that were clearly pointing out what the Chief Whip, Deputy Regina Doherty, summed up earlier this week as an epic cock-up has been evident. The voices were ignored while we were preached to about waste. Even today, we are hearing about waste. Yes, there is water lost and there are those who waste water, but they comprise a small number in the overall scheme of things. Most water is lost through leaks.

When I think of Irish Water and waste I think about exorbitant consultant fees, the yoga classes and the gilt-edged bonuses. Everything about Irish Water screamed waste as it set out on its journey using consultants to turn citizens into customers. In the best systems in the world, one still will not get below a leakage rate of 20% to 25%. The reality is that water pipes leak.

Before Irish Water was established, local authorities used a particular method to calculate unaccounted-for water. That system factored in an amount that could be expected to be lost both on the public and private sides. Irish Water came along and totally changed the method of calculation. Therefore, one cannot make direct comparisons with what happened in the local authority regime. The two are completely different.

In the case of a leak, a cost-benefit analysis is very often completed on the public side. One is not going to dig up a road if the analysis does not prove there is a savings benefit to the disruption. Similarly, if an old-age pensioner finds he or she has a leak under the path, driveway or garden, must he or she face extensive costs to remedy it? It may not be feasible for him or her. I acknowledge the report states the first-fix policy is expected to remain but there will be other incidents after the first fix. Most unaccounted-for water is lost through leaks.

We accept that water services need significant additional investment but, as with other public services, this should come through the Exchequer. The money spent on Irish Water so far would have been far better invested in much-needed upgrades to the piping system. Some of the pipelines date back to Victorian times.

Let us not forget in all of this the very lucrative and sometimes wasteful contracts that were put in place and that have still some life left. I wonder what the intention is in regard to the Abtran call centre contract, for example, in the context of what is occurring now. That contract was awarded in 2013 for a period of five years up to 2018 and with the option of an extension of another two years at the discretion of Irish Water. The potential liabilities from such contracts are obviously of serious concern. People will be concerned that they will become a charge or that the Government subsidies to the quango that is Irish Water will have to continue to rise to fund such contracts. The Abtran contracts for the call centre, the original metering contracts, many of which were awarded to Sierra, a subsidiary of Siteserv, the €80 million on consultants and the PPS numbers issue are all reasons people found it absolutely impossible to accept Irish Water. If this report is a fudge, one will know about it sooner rather than later. At the very least, there should be a full and open financial review of Irish Water and the related contractual commitments.

We feel strongly that the public utility is needed but it has to be backed by a constitutional referendum. That is the only way to restore any confidence in a utility that will exist at national level. That must be done.

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