Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Given the current drought and water shortages, people should conserve water as best they can in order that we do not run out of supplies. However, somewhat cynical attempts have been made - not here today but I have heard them in the House in the past week, particularly from Government Deputies - to suggest that if there had been water charges, this would not be happening or we would have the means to deal with it. That is completely disingenuous, not just because the investment programme of Irish Water would have been the same but also because this problem has existed through the entire history of the State. I do not know how many Members have read Ulyssesby James Joyce but in "Ithaca", the second last chapter, there is an extensive passage in which he describes the capacity limitations of the Vartry reservoir in Roundwood, the problems with the pipes, the rationing of water during a drought period and the corruption of the municipal guardians of Dublin, who were responsible for imposing the rations, in using excessive amounts of water while the people paid the price for it. Ulysses was written at the time of the First World War. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in government ever since and have not addressed the problem that James Joyce identified in 1914. That is how long this has been happening.

Water was the first thing hit when Fianna Fáil and the Green Party imposed austerity in 2010 by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. The policy of austerity was then continued by Fine Gael and the Labour Party. A €50 million annual reduction in investment was implemented on already historically low levels of investment in water infrastructure. The people and individual householders are not to blame. We have lower household use of water than anywhere in Europe. The problem is a failure to invest in fixing water infrastructure. I hope this heatwave will be a wake-up call for the Government. We must dramatically ramp up investment in water infrastructure. Could we not ask the corporations to pay an extra few bob for the water they use?

See this speech in context