Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will most definitely seek to amend the Water Services Bill 2017 and, as it stands, I will oppose it. If there are amendments, I will have to look at them. This is a Bill which, while seeming to abolish water services and replace them with direct funding from general taxation, is also seeking to insert loopholes that will allow for their reintroduction in the future. The legislation is a response to the massive movement of people power, a movement of which I was very proud to be part. I was very proud - along with the local community - to play a role in stopping water meters coming into my area. It was a movement which launched the "No way, we won't pay" demand on the streets and 56% of households refused to pay. Others were forced to pay when they sold their homes or out of fear. Some agreed with water charges. This movement of people power derailed the latest attempt to commodify water and prepare for privatisation. I have no doubt that any future attempt will be met with similar mass resistance. This must be the third time the establishment has attempted to bring in water charges with the goal of privatising our water in the future. The point was made last night that water is the new oil. Large companies see they can make big profits through it. While they are making their big profits, the system creaks because there is no investment being made to fix pipes and no attempts to deal with the issue.

On section 8 and the issue of the average consumption of water, we are being asked to vote through something when we do not know what the regulator will determine to be average consumption. Is it to be by household or by individual? Is Fianna Fáil's eye being wiped here or is it in agreement with the Government on this? We do not know at what level the Minister will set the threshold over which there will be an excessive usage payment. Deputy Cowen kept referring to a fine when it is actually a payment. I ask him whether Fianna Fáil's eye being wiped or whether it is, through its confidence-and-supply arrangement, in tacit agreement with the Government. This is very different from the idea of a fine for deliberate excessive waste as was posited at the committee. Irish Water has been given the right to charge for water usage above a level which we can only guess at this point. How will it be implemented when we do not have mass meters in the ground? If people are told that they have over-usage of water yet do not have a meter, how will Irish Water measure and cost that? It does not make sense.

Section 9 allows for a 1.7 multiplier to be reduced but not for five years. This is a loophole for the future. The threshold can be changed and lowered to bring more households into payment for water services. It is the Government preparing to bring back water charges through the backdoor, not like the last time when it took the establishment nearly 20 years, but perhaps to bring them back over five or so years. The five-year stipulation is a recognition of political reality. Water charges are off the agenda for a period but the backdoor is being left open.

I want to deal with two issues which were not on the remit of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services, but were taken on board by the committee. First is the question of having a referendum to enshrine public water services in public ownership and management as per the Bill I introduced with the support of Members of this Dáil and which passed Second Stage without opposition. While it was not in the Oireachtas committee's remit, it stated it was in favour of a referendum because such a referendum was called for in the majority of submissions received by the commission and the Oireachtas committee. The commission on water charges also supported a referendum based on the number of submissions it received indicating that people supported a referendum on the public ownership of our water.

The Bill passed Second Stage almost a year ago. The current and former Ministers have both said they favour a referendum but are awaiting advice from the Attorney General as to the wording of the amendment. A red herring has been created around the issue of group schemes and private wells. My Bill refers specifically to the public water system. The public water system is the public water system and does not include private schemes or private wells. Given that a back door has been left open to attempt to commodify water to charges at some point in the future, a referendum to rule out privatisation is still a priority for the Right2Water movement and is still a priority for this Dáil in reflection of the mood and demand of the people. It is vital to copper-fasten the right to public water.

I wish to refer to the future of Irish Water as an entity. This is a key issue that the Government - and now it appears Fianna Fáil - want to keep off the agenda. I wish to know why this is so. I believe this was contained in the Fianna Fáil manifesto. Probably one of the reasons it got the extra votes it did in the last general election was that it supported abolishing Irish Water and water charges. Irish Water is seen as a toxic entity by the mass of the people. It is seen as a cash cow for consultants and private companies contracted to install meters and provide other services.

I recently met local authority workers who are working on water services under the service level agreement, SLA, with Irish Water. These workers have many concerns about how Irish Water operates. One concern highlighted to me related to a company which provided specialist services and could be called in to deal with a specific problem. It had a standard charge of €45. This company is no longer used and instead another well-known private company is used, which has a charge of €139 and which then subcontracts the work to the previous company anyway, allowing it to make a profit of €94 per job. This is outrageous. It is why the people hate Irish Water and why it is so toxic. There is no transparency. I have also been advised of engineers who had been recruited by consultants who are paid €85,000 and then they pay the engineer €65,000 and pocket the €20,000. This is outrageous. We need a body that is transparent in order that people can see what is going on. According to these workers, the only thing Irish Water is good it is spin. The real problems in the system are not being addressed because of a lack of funds. Major necessary work, such as the replacement of ancient pipes is not being undertaken and repairs are carried out instead. Fixing a leak in the system means increased water pressure which immediately leads to other leaks.

Irish Water is pushing to be set up as a stand-alone public utility with sole responsibility for all areas of the public water system. Today the Irish Water consultative group is meeting where the CEO will present the proposal regarding a stand-alone public utility to that group, and has already consulted with the Minister. This raises important issues for in excess of 3,000 local authority workers operating under the service level agreement with Irish Water, which is due to be reviewed in 2021.

It is extremely important that Deputies give careful consideration to the concerns of these workers in the coming period. These workers are the experts and not those in Irish Water. These workers have experience and knowledge gained over the years. They know what is wrong, what needs to be fixed and how to do it. They need a national water authority to ensure they get the necessary investment to get on with the job of providing high-quality public water services. Every cent that goes into the water services should be put directly into fixing the pipes and supporting the network and not channelling money to consultants and groups without delivering properly.

See this speech in context