Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The approach taken by the previous Government and the current one to the establishment of Irish Water and how we run water services in this country is a lesson in how not to do it. It has been a difficult campaign for many people, in both conducting the campaigns and trying to face down the efforts to impose what was, in effect, double taxation. An issue which concerned me greatly, and I am on the record of the House pointing it out on many occasions, was the cost of establishing the utility. It was really set up to provide a billing structure. There was speculation that part of the idea was that the structure could be privatised. I introduced a Bill four years ago, under which we would have a referendum to ensure that it would not be privatised and I still think that is worth doing. I welcome that the Labour Party, which rejected it at the time, has now changed its mind on the matter and thinks that we should do it.

According to Irish Water, 49% of the water supply leaks out of the network. The wasteful installation of meters could have been better spent. I pointed out a number of times, as did some of my Sinn Féin colleagues, that we should have a neighbourhood or district metering system. That has been floated and I notice it has been taken on board in a more mainstream way in the last year or so and that is to be welcomed. The cost of metering every house and maintaining these meters has not been taken into consideration enough. The life of these meters is quite short and trying to maintain them is costly, and their purpose is questionable. I pointed this out many times to the then Minister, Phil Hogan. There should have been no introduction of domestic water charges and we still should not have any through the backdoor. With the ministerial power proposed in this Bill, we do not want a future Minister to be given the power to create a charging regime.

Water is a basic source of life and it must remain in people's hands. Such a basic human need is important for health and hygiene and cannot become an economic commodity. It was established that Irish Water was a company to trade water as a capitalist commodity. I firmly believe that was the eventual intention. All its structures were geared towards that end, including billing and other components. With the responsibility for water being taken away from the local authorities and given to a company, it would have been easy to sell off to the highest bidder. One can look at what happened in Britain. One cannot ignore the catastrophic effects of that and the way householders are being charged huge prices for a basic water supply. I introduced a Bill in 2014 regarding public ownership and a referendum to decide on that. Fine Gael and the Labour Party voted against that. The then Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, rejected it and said there was no need for it. The Fine Gael Minister of State at the time said, "I would not consider it an appropriate approach to amend the Constitution to provide for a prohibition on the privatisation of a utility company." That was it and it is still seen by Fine Gael as a utility that trades as a commodity which can be bought or sold. This is key. If one sees water as a commodity and not as a service, then the logical extension of one's ideology is the potential to sell Irish Water. We need that referendum. We have had referenda on less important matters in the past and this is one we should have and which should be prioritised. Later, another Bill was passed on Second Stage by this House to achieve public ownership but that now languishes on Committee Stage. Sinn Féin and other Deputies involved in the Right2Water campaign also submitted amendments to this Bill to ensure public ownership.

The structure of Irish Water has been inefficient in its functions. Local authorities still provide the service but it is now taken away from local practice to bureaucratic workings elsewhere. The argument for an overarching body responsible for water may be taken as a given, particularly for cross-county matters, but if it is in place, it must be efficient, working, accountable and cost-effective.

The waste of money in Irish Water has scandalised us. The public is outraged by what went on. It has had a polarising effect in this country.

The Government in the past played the game of pitching rural against urban. I refer to those who are connected to group water schemes. Many rural dwellers are Irish Water customers. Before one walks in through somebody's gate in many rural areas, for instance, in the constituency I represent, one will see the Irish Water meter. The argument does not stack up from that point of view. Many of those schemes have been taken over by the local authorities and are now in the hands of Irish Water. There are tens of thousands of people in rural areas who have an Irish Water connection.

In relation to the group water schemes, my party provided in its budget submissions in the past for an increased subsidy for the group water schemes to ensure that those involved are treated fairly. I would also point out that there is a scheme for private wells through the local authorities that works well. One can avail of it for the upgrading of wells also. That scheme needs to be protected and we need to look at how we can enhance that.

In the few seconds I have left, I will refer to the potential for future charging. The Minister, as I understand it, will have the power to change the 1.7 times normal usage provision. From the point of view of my party, as part of the Right2Water campaign, we will oppose any attempt to try to introduce domestic water charges through the backdoor. We support the concept of commercial charging. In my household, we pay a commercial charge because of a small business we have. I have no problem with that because it is used for commercial profit-making purposes. However, we cannot go back to double taxation on domestic water.

See this speech in context