Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to take Report Stage this evening and to speak to the amendments put forward by Deputies.

Amendment No. 15 is the first in the group. Essentially, if we were to accept the amendment, we would remove one of the key elements or purposes of the Bill. Therefore, the Government cannot accept the amendment. The provision in the relevant section is for the payment for the excessive use of water. It has been drafted in line with the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services. Therefore, I cannot accept the amendment.

People have spoken about the 1.7 figure relating to the calculation of the excessive use beyond average household use. That cannot be changed for five years. As Deputy Barry pointed out, it will be a decision of the Dáil rather than the Government. It will be a decision of the elected representatives of the people in respect of what exactly should happen at that point.

The allowance will cover eight people based on the average consumption patterns presented to the Oireachtas committee. If there are additional people above four, they can apply for an additional allowance per person. If there is a medical need, a person can apply for what will be in effect a waiver from any charge.

I am confused about amendment No. 16. It refers to swimming pools and water features. On the one hand, the Deputies who have put down this amendment claim this is water charges through the back door, that is, people in their houses will have to pay this charge. At the same time, they claim it does not capture the amount of water usage that would include a swimming pool and a water feature. There is complete inconsistency in the approach to the amendments and the arguments made in the Chamber this evening.

Legislation on a referendum on public ownership is already progressing through the House by way of the Bill sponsored by Deputy Joan Collins. That will be discussed in by the committee on 12 November, as I understand it.

Not all the recommendations made by the Oireachtas joint committee report require legislation. Further measures may come forward on conservation. They will be recommended to the Government and the Oireachtas by the water forum and the advisory body to be set up under this Bill.

This legislation is in essence a conservation Bill and measure - we all know that. There are no anomalies in how the figures will be calculated. Additional individuals above four can apply for an additional allowance per person. The allowance for four is generous enough, taking into account the excessive usage levy multiplier of 1.7, to accommodate on average eight people in a household.

The commission for the regulation of utilities will decide on the payment for excessive use in consultation. It is likely to be a metric charge for metered houses. For houses not metered, the commission may look at a range. Again, that will be a decision for the commission to make and it will do so in consultation over the course of next year.

Reference was made to the refunds process. There was more than enough time from an administrative point of view to allow all refunds to be made in advance of December were the legislation to have completed passage through both Houses by the middle of October. Much work was done over the course of June, July and August to ensure the refunds could be made if the legislation was enacted by both Houses by the middle of October. I made that clear to the relevant Deputies on the opposite side. My understanding was that I had agreement to do that.

Nothing is being rushed in this legislation. It has been debated in full in terms of what the special joint Oireachtas committee wanted to see by way of that legislation. The Bill comprehensively addresses the issues that are required in legislation, apart from the one issue being progressed through the House by means of separate legislation.

I welcome the comments from Deputy Coppinger. She sees this as a victory. I look forward to her support for the Bill.

The final amendment in the group, amendment No. 18, relates to an education campaign. Members will be aware of the significant number of education campaigns under way, including the Green Schools programme, which operates in 90% of primary and secondary schools. Other initiatives include the work being done by such bodies as An Taisce and Irish Water with over 200,000 students in schools throughout the country to increase their awareness of water conservation issues and what needs to be done. Further initiatives include surveys of schools awarded the green flag for water themes and the work done around water conservation in these schools as well as by Tidy Towns and Irish Water with the Value Water award. Irish Water also supports the EPA Live Green campaign. Finally, the water forum and the water advisory body will be in place to propose any additional measures that may be needed over the years as this new system beds down.

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