Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Rural Independent Group for tabling the motion. The wastewater area has been somewhat neglected, with water supply getting more attention. The wastewater issue is important, particularly in rural Ireland but also in urban Ireland. My party will support the motion, although I note the Minister has responded on significant funding that is committed, and we should acknowledge that.

The Minister indicated that he hopes the working group will report towards the end of November and that that would involve further investment. I presume he will keep us updated at that time on expenditure and the areas that need it.

I was a member of the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services. I did not always agree with every member on it, as those who were members will know, but we all fully supported section 6 of the report on equity and fairness. It is probably no harm to quote the relevant recommendations. Section 6.1 states: "The Committee recommends that the principles of equity of treatment and equivalent financial support should be applied equally between households on public water supplies and those in Group Water Schemes (GWS), Group Sewerage Schemes (GSS), those using Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems (DWWTS) and Individual Domestic Water Supplies (IDWS)."

Section 6.2 states:

The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government should therefore conduct a review [I presume that is the review the Minister spoke about], in coordination with the National Federation of Group Water Schemes and other relevant stakeholders, to quantify what additional investment will be required to equalise treatment between those availing of domestic water services and those availing of private services. The Committee recommends that, following this review, identified investment should be provided.

That is what is being requested in the motion and is generally what Members across the House believe should happen.

I support what was said on the underspend in an area where there is clearly a need, and I heard various towns, villages and townlands being referred to earlier. All of us could quote some of those in our areas, but there is a need for investment in particular parts of the country and we want that to happen.

Another recommendation was that there should be some way the Minister could ring-fence the money provided. I believe the wording was, "Ensure that this funding goes directly to the water utility for the specific purpose of investing into the water infrastructure so as to ensure full compliance with Ireland's EU obligations under the WFD." As is probably always the case, however, the ring-fencing of money for any particular purpose does not happen. The problem then is that these wastewater and water services are in competition with all the other areas where spending is needed. We need to keep an eye on that to ensure money continues to be provided for this important service.

There will not be charges. The Minister might clarify this but I understand in January 2019 there are supposed to be charges for those who excessively use water and who have been warned and so on. Perhaps we might get some information on that because it is something I support, although not everybody in this House does, in that where people are excessively wasting water they should be charged. Apart from that, the money has to come out from the Exchequer and is in competition with many other needs in our economy. That is just the way it is.

I want to raise another issue that seems to be sitting on the back-burner, that is, the first recommendation of the committee, which was that there should be a referendum to ask the people to ensure that water services continue to remain in public ownership. As far as I know, that is still sitting in the committee and there are some issues around progressing it further. I want to put on the record again that I believe that is important because it reassures people that there is no intention of privatising wastewater services. If there is any update on that, I would welcome that. It was intended that it would be dealt with through a Private Members' Bill that had been referred to the committee but I have not seen much progress on that, so I would be interested to hear it.

There are some areas where Irish Water has done good work, particularly regarding lead. That was a major issue in my city of Limerick where significant work was done to bypass the lead pipes. That is important because it is a serious health concern for people who live in areas where there are old lead pipes. I would hope that programme will continue wherever an issue arises.

I recognise that this is a serious issue in many parts of the country. If we are to have equity and the kind of water and wastewater system we all want, it needs investment if we are to avoid fines from the ECJ with regard to the hearings. If there is any update on that, I would welcome it. There are a number of reasons but the most important reason is that, for our health and the health of our environment, we must have the kind of system we all want. I support the motion.

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