Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil, in government, agreed water charges in principle. Fine Gael and the Labour Party, in government, implemented them. Privatisation was clearly on the agenda - get the charge in, make water potentially profitable, then flog the service off to a private utility. Threats and pressure were used but this agenda was defeated. This Bill provides for water charges, as they were, to be abolished, arrears to be written off and refunds to be organised for those who paid.

What made Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil change their minds was people power - the 250,000 plus who marched the streets, the 1 million plus who refused to pay in full or in part, and the two thirds plus of the population who voted for parties in the general election who pledged to abolish the charge. It is to those people who took part in that magnificent people power movement that our congratulations go tonight for achieving this victory.

At the same time as we celebrate a victory, we must also issue a warning because this Water Services Bill tries to build a backdoor for the return of water charges. It does this through the mechanism of the excessive use charge. The excessive use charge was inserted in this Bill by Fine Gael with the support of Fianna Fáil as a Trojan horse to facilitate the return of water charges in future. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil deny this. They say that this is a Ronseal charge; it only does what it says on the tin. They say it is for excessive use only. It is for those who use 1.7 times the average amount of water, for so-called "water wasters". Only 8% will be hit, they say.

What Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not highlight is that this legislation states that the threshold can be lowered by a vote of the Dáil in five years' time. What Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not say is that the excessive use charge will saddle tens of thousands of ordinary four-person households with water charges in less than two years' time. How is that the case? The legislation factors in average household size as 2.75 persons. Average household usage for households with between one and four members is 2.75 persons multiplied by 1.7 times the average usage. This means that a household with four members - by the way, these include many households with adult children who are forced to live at home with their parents because of the housing crisis - using more than 1.2 times the average amount of water will be hit under this legislation for excessive use charges. In other words, there will be water charges by another name in less than two years' time.

These two examples, one, building in a mechanism for lowering the excessive use charge threshold in five years' time and, two, attempting to slap tens of thousands of four-person households with water charges in less than two years' time, show the true intentions of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to leave a backdoor open for the return of water charges in the not-too-distant future. I will conclude my introductory remarks by issuing a warning to the Fine Gael Party and the Fianna Fáil Party that if they seriously attempt to go down that road and levy water charges by the backdoor on increasing sections of the people, they will face a movement at least the same size as, if not greater than, the water charges movement which has forced them into such major concessions that we are debating in the Bill tonight.

I will expand a little on some of my introductory points. I stated that Fianna Fáil in government agreed water charges in principle. The Irish Examiner, using a freedom of information request about Cabinet meetings in September of 2010, has shown conclusively that Fianna Fáil put the issue of the water charges on the agenda before any other party did and agreed to them in principle. It is a matter of clear historical record that Fine Gael and the Labour Party implemented them a number of years after that. Privatisation was inevitable if they got away with this. Leaving aside European Union legislation which would force the Government to go down that road, if one changes water from a service one day into a commodity the next, with a price tag on it and the potential to realise a profit, of course, the big multinational corporations that trade in and profit from water would be banging down doors in this State to get their hands on that valuable commodity, "blue gold", as it has been called by many commentators.

I mentioned that threats and pressure had been used. There were the threats of penalties. There were the threats of court actions. There were the threats of the former Minister, the Commissioner, Mr. Phil Hogan, who stated that failure to pay water charges could result in one's water supply being reduced to a trickle. What a threat to make to the households of single parents, pensioners and those who live on low incomes within society, that the Government would reduce their water supply to a trickle. What a contrast with the debate that we are having tonight because that attitude, approach and agenda has been defeated. Water charges, as they were, are to be abolished, arrears and the penalties are to be written off and refunds organised for those who paid.

It is clear that this has come about not as a result of a change of heart on the part of Fine Gael Ministers or the Fianna Fáil Party, but as a result of people power. It was as a result of working class people, ordinary people. People power forced this change.

I said earlier than more than 250,000 people had joined the marches. On the first big march in Dublin in October 2014, there were 100,000 or 150,000 participants. On the second day of action called by the Right 2 Water campaign there were protests and demonstrations in cities, towns and villages across the country in which there must have been at least 200,000 involved. I mentioned that more than 1 million households had refused to pay, in full or in part. That was an incredible boycott. Had it been seen before on any issue in the history of the State? I also said that in the last general election more than two thirds, probably more than 70%, in fact, had voted for political parties which had pledged to abolish water charges. I do not think there is any question or doubt as to whom the victory belongs. It belongs to the people of Ireland who marched, refused to pay and voted for change. Their struggle and campaign and people power forced this major climb down.

At the same time as we celebrate this victory we also issue a warning. We said in the debate that took place before the summer recess that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were attempting to build a back door to allow for the return of water charges in the future. In fact, if one looks at the Bill in detail, one will see that they are actually trying to widen that back door a little and their weapon of choice is the excessive use charge. It is the Trojan horse to facilitate the return of water charges in the future, although Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael deny this. The argument being made is that we cannot stand over the wastage of water, that 8% of households are using more than 1.7 times the average amount of water and that the excessive use charge is for them and them alone. However, what we are doing in this debate is highlighting the real agenda which can be seen in two examples.

First, the figure of 1.7 times average usage is not to be set in stone in this legislation. The Bill does not fix that figure forever and a day. It allows the Dáil the possibility of lowering it, but to what? To a figure of 1.6, 1.5, 1.4 or 1.3? The Dáil can do this within five years. The legislation allows for the possibility that households that use far less than 1.7 times the average amount may be penalised.

The second example is what the legislation plans to do, not in five years' times or even in two years' time but in about a year and three quarters, to ordinary four-person households. There are many four-person households in the country. In fact, there are probably more such households today than there were yesterday or the day before, given the housing crisis. There are many families with children in their late teens and even their mid to late 20s who previously would have been purchasing their own property or at least renting from a landlord who can no longer afford to do so because of the chronic housing crisis. What is the story with this legislation vis-à-visthese four-person households? They will not be penalised if they use 1.7 times the average amount multiplied by four; rather, under the terms of the legislation, they will be penalised if they use 1.7 times the average amount multiplied by 2.75. In other words, they are to be penalised not if they use 1.7 times the average amount but if they use more than 1.16 times the average figure. Therefore, a four-person household which uses marginally above the average usage level is to be hit with Fine Gael's and Fianna Fáil's so-called excessive use charge in 21 months' time. Clearly, it is an attempt to hit the families in question, the first tranche of families, with a new, returned water charge which can be levied on others if the Dáil so decides five years down the road.

It is difficult to concentrate with all of the talking that is ongoing in the Chamber.

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