John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

18. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the impact on the financing of the Irish Water capital programme to 2021 from any reduction in water charge revenues arising from the outcome of the independent commission and the Oireachtas committee on the future of water charges. [28707/16]

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

30. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of Irish Water capital funding between Exchequer and equity for each of the years 2016 to 2019, inclusive. [28697/16]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Deputy Martin Kenny is taking these.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The first question asks the Minister the impact on the financing of the Irish Water capital programme up to 2021 from the expected reduction in water charges that may be the outcome of the independent commission and the Oireachtas committee on the future of water charges. The second linked question, Question No. 30 from Deputy Imelda Munster, looks for a breakdown of the capital programme over the next number of years.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 30 together.

We finally got to one on Irish Water. Irish Water's capital investment in the period 2017 to 2021 will be funded by a mix of debt and equity, including capital transfers from Government. This investment programme for the period 2017 to 2021 will be subject to review by the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, and Government funding will be subject to future budgetary decisions.

On 30 September last, the CER published its consultation on the level of Irish Water's allowed revenue, including proposals on operational and capital budgets, for the 2017 and 2018 period with a view to a final decision being made by the CER in the fourth quarter of 2016. A copy of the CER's consultation paper is available on its website, www.cer.ie.

The capital contribution agreed by Government for Irish Water in 2016 is €184 million and this has already been paid to Irish Water to support its increased investment in public water services infrastructure. The balance of Irish Water's capital investment in 2016 is being supported through borrowing. The capital contribution for Irish Water in 2017 is being considered as part of the 2017 budgetary process.

The Government has established an expert commission to make recommendations for the sustainable long-term funding model for the delivery of domestic water and wastewater services by Irish Water. The commission will report to a special Oireachtas committee and consideration of recommendations on the funding model will ultimately be voted upon by the Oireachtas next year. The financial implications arising from this will be considered by the Government at that stage.

As Deputies will be aware, the Government is committed to retaining Irish Water as a single national utility in public ownership responsible for the delivery of water and wastewater services, and to protecting the €5.5 billion investment set out by Irish Water in its business plan 2014-2021 to continue to upgrade the vital national water infrastructure.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In a sense, the Minister did not answer the question. I suppose it is impossible to answer it as the matter is all in flux.

The concern many have is that when water charges go, and we all expect that is what will ultimately be the outcome of all this and it is certainly what the majority of Deputies in the House want, the Government should have a clear plan in place to support existing infrastructure and the development of new infrastructure throughout the country. We see a lot of problems with leaks. Certainly, in rural areas, such as where I live, there are significant problems.

I am particularly interested to hear whether the Minister has any plans to fund group water and sewerage schemes in the future, and also the grants and level of support that will be put in place for local authorities to get the infrastructure in place to ensure there is a proper, fully serviced water system in place countrywide. While Irish Water has done some work, unfortunately, it has fallen far short of the heralded expectations. We wait with bated breath for something meaningful to be put in place that will ensure a proper infrastructure will be put in place for all the people.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is not possible to give an exact commitment until we know what the funding model will be. I am sure that will result in a lot of political debate between now and next March or April when the Oireachtas votes on it.

We are committed to the business plan that Irish Water has put in place and is implementing. What Irish Water has done on conservation of water by fixing leaks has generated significant savings in much of the country, but there is a lot more still to do. What it is doing around wastewater treatment is also significant. In my home county, there are currently 50,000 households pumping raw sewage into Cork Harbour, that is, approximately 35,000 wheelie bins full every day. Irish Water will have that problem fixed in the next 18 months by spending nearly €100 million on it. There is a lot to do here.

We have a funding package for group water schemes. That has been signed off with those schemes' representative body and I think they are happy with that.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The essence of all of this is wait and we will see what the Government can do. The model that has been put in place, where the Government set up this structure off the books and tried to borrow the money on the international markets to provide the infrastructure, simply has not worked and that must be recognised. Irish Water has been a failure. That is the reality for the people.

It is certainly a reality for the local authorities which have in many cases continued to do the work, and all we have seen is an additional layer of management put on top. It has been a total heartbreak for many, who have worked all their lives in local authorities and who have provided an excellent service for people, to find that they are merely cast aside as if they had been doing nothing all down the years. The fact is the local authorities and the good staff who worked in them did an excellent job with the limited resources they were given. We need to see adequate resources provided to ensure a proper infrastructure can be put in place.

I take the Minister's point that there are many instances where raw sewage is poured into the sea and into rivers, and there are significant problems to be addressed. The model of funding is one issue, but the lack of adequate funding is the real problem. There is not enough funding being put in place to provide a solution to the problem.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am tempted not to get into the water charges debate here around ring-fencing adequate funding. If we are not careful, we will get into the realm of funding for medium-term and long-term water projects having to compete with immediate spending commitments that we must decide year after year on budgets. That is the whole point of having a sustainable funding model for what we need here.

Many staff who are involved in the water sector had been working in local authorities. I agree there were some really good staff but the problem was each local authority was doing its own thing. There were 31 systems, many of which were not connected with each other at all. There was no interoperability. There were no economies of scale. There was no central skill set of staff because we did not have economies of scale. Irish Water is a single utility that can achieve many of the more national strategic goals that need to be attained around water that individual local authorities on their own could not do. I am not for one minute saying that local authorities were a disaster or whatever, but the outcome of having each local authority doing its own thing on water was a fairly bad outcome in terms of where the water infrastructure is today, and Irish Water is there to fix that.