Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle as ucht an deis chun labhairt.

As outlined by many of my colleagues here tonight, Sinn Féin will be opposing this legislation and all it stands for. The Government is again rejecting the will of the people. It is ignoring the mass movement of people who went out onto the streets to protest against this unfair charge. It is undemocratic for a Government to do that and it needs to be challenged.

My party's spokesperson, Deputy Ó Broin, has rightly called out this legislation as the latest instalment of the long and sorry saga of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's water charges regime, a regime that has been rejected by many citizens in this country. As we know, Fianna Fáil first put water charges on the table and Fine Gael enthusiastically took up the baton when its turn came. All of this could have been avoided. If the Government had secured an exemption under Article 9.4 of the water services directive, we could have funded water services directly and fairly from general taxation.

The establishment of Irish Water was simply a means of continuing with a failed strategy of underinvestment in this critical public service. From being a Deputy and, indeed, a councillor beforehand, I am aware that many of the pipes date from Victorian times. These should be replaced first. That is common sense, not rocket science. Why could the Government not see the need to fix the pipes before coming up with this ridiculous legislation and charges? It should fix the pipes first. It is ridiculous that the Government has ignored all of that.

It was never about conservation and a growing body of research has clearly demonstrated that domestic water charges do not result in long-term reduction in domestic water usage. The people clearly saw through the lies and spin. They mobilised in their tens of thousands across this State - citizens, communities and trade unions - supported by political parties. They forced Fianna Fáil into embarrassing flip-flop after flip-flop on this issue. They called for the public ownership of water to be enshrined in the Constitution and for the funding of water services through general taxation and increased investment to meet the level of service need. They called for the abolition of water charges and metering and the replacement of Irish Water with a publicly accountable board. This has been the biggest quango ever set up. Millions of euro have that could have gone into hospitals, schools and infrastructure were spent on consultants' fees. That makes no sense, and never will.

Only two of the key demands to which I refer were upheld in the recommendations of the expert group on the funding of water services. That group recommended that domestic water services should be funded, in the main, through general taxation and that public ownership of water should be enshrined in the Constitution. As we all know, that relates back to 1919 and the First Dáil, which stated quite clearly that the natural resources of this country belong to its people. That should always be protected. The special Oireachtas report also includes a recommendation for the constitutional protection of the public water system. The expert group made a number of other recommendations, such as equity of treatment for those in group water schemes and an ambitious programme of water conservation.

Those in group water schemes in rural communities are not being treated equitably. They are not even getting a look in here, and that matter has not been addressed. Those rural communities are being abandoned. This is another instance of their being abandoned by the Government, which has not thought about putting anything forward in that regard and which does not even think in terms of equality.

I fail to understand how the majority of these recommendations, for which there was widespread support, are not reflected in the Bill. There is nothing in the Bill regarding a referendum on the public ownership of Irish Water. A Bill on a referendum was passed by this House almost a year ago, and that seems to have been ignored. That legislation has not made it through Committee Stage and it is becoming increasingly clear that the Government is dragging its heels on the matter. We have seen many other items of legislation rushed through this Dáil. We have seen flaws in legislation and yet we see this crucial Bill, which relates to the need for a referendum, being ignored and left on a shelf somewhere. It will not go away and nor will we. As a party, we will stand with the citizens on this issue.

The Minister has indicated that the Government is still awaiting advice from the Attorney General. In such circumstances, one cannot but ask whether, if this was a priority issue for the Government, would we still be waiting, almost a year later, for the Bill to proceed through formal Committee Stage.

I fail to understand the delay in addressing the recommendation relating to group water schemes. Those schemes are not being treated in a fair manner. From my constituency offices throughout County Offaly and in north Tipperary, I am aware that this is an issue of concern. The people there feel strongly that the Government is neither listening to them nor behaving in an equitable manner.

I cannot understand the rationale for further delaying the establishment of the working group until after this legislation is passed. The Government has had a year to address the matter. It is a huge issue in rural communities. I will continue to represent and agitate on behalf of those communities. We have working class people in rural Ireland, we have people who are struggling and we have people who get up for work every day. However, they are being ignored. Their needs are not being met and they are not being represented by the Government. They continue to pay twice for water.

The data provided to the committee on this issue suggests that a relatively small amount of money would address this problem but it is important that the Government clearly commits to this recommendation in the report. Group schemes receive an annual subsidy of only €70 per household but that does not cover the full cost of accessing water supply. Equity would require the State to cover the full cost of group water scheme users in accessing that water supply. The Minister has stated that he can find the €170 million required for refunds. It would cost a fraction of that amount to address this issue should the Government choose to make it a priority.

This Bill, like many other items of legislation that have been brought before the current Dáil, is seriously flawed. It appears to be the case that if there is excess usage, there will be a metric charge depending on how much is used. Given that a significant proportion of households do not have meters, this creates an absurd situation. Many of my colleagues have addressed this.

If we pass this legislation, there could be two houses side by side using the same amount of water and yet one could be hit with a charge while the other may not. How is that fair? How can that be justified? How can it be common sense?

There are issues with the medical exemption and it is not clear how that will operate in practice. The legislation also fails to provide sufficient supports and assistance to those who have identified leaks on their property.

This Bill is not comprehensive and fails to put this matter to bed once and for all. Indeed, it ignores the will of thousands of citizens throughout this country. It is proof that the water charges agenda pursued by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is not dead. It may only affect a relatively small percentage of households today, but what about tomorrow and the day after that? Do we trust Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to confine charges to excessive use? It is my firm belief that once the infrastructure for domestic water charging remains in place, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will eventually extend the charge out to growing numbers of people. For that reason, Sinn Féin will strongly oppose this Bill and will work to ensure the problems with this legislation are fully exposed, should this Bill proceed.

It is also time for this Government to recognise rural water schemes. They are being ignored here and, as a rural Deputy, I put the Government on notice that I will continue to raise this matter. I urge the Government to act on it.

See this speech in context