Results 2,441-2,460 of 20,763 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Provision will also be made for the automatic creation of a statutory charge on a dwelling in respect of unpaid water charges. I accept there are many people in financial difficulty and, as Minister, I will be insisting that Irish Water distinguish between those who want to pay but cannot, and those who simply refuse to pay. Those who want to pay but are in financial difficulty, as I have...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: During the period to the end of 2018, better data on consumption patterns for different household types will be gathered to inform future pricing arrangements, and further cost efficiencies will be secured. The Government is determined that charges will always remain affordable. Average charges will continue to be kept low through ongoing subvention to Irish Water. The legislation I will...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Government has consistently stated that water services will remain in public ownership.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: This principle was enshrined in the Water Services Act 2007 and reaffirmed in the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013. The 2013 Act prohibits the shareholders of Irish Water - namely, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Minister for Finance and the board of Irish Water - from disposing of their shares.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Government believes that public ownership of water services is the will of the Irish people and I propose to legislate to ensure that, if any future Government sought to change this position, it would be required to put this matter before the people in a plebiscite.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Working closely with my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, I will shortly move to put in place a unitary board combining Irish Water with its parent company, Ervia. The new board will provide for stronger governance and improved setting of strategic objectives.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Tomorrow, there will be an advertisement to this effect on the website www.stateboards.ie. The Government will be establishing a new public bill-payers' forum to advise Irish Water on service expectations and provide valuable feedback on investment priorities. I want Irish Water to be a totally customer-focused and customer-friendly organisation.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: On that basis, I welcome the decision of the board not to proceed with the performance-related pay award mechanism for 2013 and 2014.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: A pay model review will be the number one priority for the new board that the Government is now going to put in place. The previous system of providing water services through local authorities was not working properly, despite their best efforts.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Local authorities were absolutely restricted in their ability to borrow, so they could not invest adequately in the system. Decisions on investment were slow, bureaucratic and inefficient. Planning for new water services largely stopped at the county boundary, so there was little opportunity to achieve economies of scale on a regional, sub-regional or national basis.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: We see the results in almost every city, town and county across this country today. There are major issues around the quality of water supply and the capacity of the existing system to supply treated water in the quantities needed by households, businesses and industry. For example, there are more than 20,000 people on boil-water notices and almost 1 million more depend on drinking water...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Is this acceptable? Almost half the water treated - at significant cost - runs off in leaks and is unaccounted for.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: In Dublin, more than 800 kilometres of pipe is over 100 years old. This is unsustainable. There is insufficient supply for the greater Dublin area. Most major European cities have a spare capacity of approximately 15% to 20%. Dublin has a surplus capacity of only 1% to 4%. We have all seen the results of that in recent years and what it has cost this city. There are 42 towns where raw...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: We often talk in this House about the importance of tourism. In 2015, this will lead to swimming bans on some of our beaches during the most important months of the year for tourism. By way of example, there are 22 households that are at a cumulative level leaking over 1 million litres a day into their driveways. That is enough to serve the needs in one day of a town the size of Gorey....

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: To address these legacy issues, to invest for the future and to provide consistent customer service across the country, Irish Water needs to invest around €600 million every year. It has to be able to do this itself independently of the Government of the day so that it is not in the same queue as hospitals, schools and welfare benefits for funds. Throughout our deliberations, we have...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Lessons have been learned. We must now move forward and resume our focus on the real challenges that remain - jobs for our young people, sharing the benefits of the recovery fairly and across all regions of the country, providing more social housing and developing a fairer taxation system that supports jobs and enterprise. Unlike some in this House, and as I stated earlier, I want my...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: The country got into an economic mess because previous Governments did little else but focus on the next election. The Government has been focused on getting the country out of the mess created by the Members opposite.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Of course, we have made mistakes as a Government.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: While we have made mistakes, setting up Irish Water was not one of them. I ask the people to give this package a fair hearing and examine it in the context of the budget announced last month. Many of these measures are underpinned by legislation that will be progressed and brought to the House before the end of the year.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Alan Kelly: Time will be set aside for a full debate on all of these measures. I commend them to the House. I aslo commend the motion.