Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas. Officials from Uisce Éireann met with Cork City Council last night. They refused to attend the meeting if it was in public and failed to answer many of the legitimate questions posed by councillors. I met them in February and I was told I would receive responses to my questions that evening. It took a full month before I got a response back.

Uisce Éireann is a law unto itself. It is a public service body which provides no service and hides from the public. I can only imagine the harm that would be done if it could charge people for water. People in Cork are already paying water charges because the water from the taps is so dirty that they have to go to the supermarket every week to buy water in order to have clean water to drink. Uisce Éireann has refused to supply the people of Cork with clean, safe, reliable drinking water. You can imagine the anger people felt when it was suggested that water charges could come back and be introduced for excessive water usage.

The public health advice from the HSE and by Uisce Éireann in Cork is to run your tap until the water runs clear. A man who contacted me ran his tap for six hours before the water was clear. He ran it for six hours and he needs to know that he will never be charged for following the public health advice.

Instead of trying to bring in water charges by the back door, the Government should focus on ensuring the people of Cork have clean, safe drinking water.

The Minister should support the Bill if he is guaranteeing us he does not want to bring in water charges. People have a lack of trust in him and the Government. No one loves Uisce Éireann like Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do. In the midst of the public anger and outcry at water charges when the Government tried to bring them in, people stood up. The thing about Uisce Éireann is that the lack of transparency is unbelievable. It might as well be in Area 51 for what we know and can get out of it. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have made it clear. Their own TDs come out and attack Uisce Éireann when things go wrong but, at the same time, they have turned a blind eye to decades of underinvestment. We have water pipes in Cork that have been there longer than the history of the State. If the Minister really wants the people to trust him, I ask him to support the Bill. Remember, the people rose up once against water charges and if they have to do it again they will. I thank everyone, from the water workers to the water campaigners and the Right2Water movement, for standing up and saying "No water charges". I ask the Minister to please support the Bill if he is really honest.

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