Seanad debates

Thursday, 30 November 2006

National Development Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage

 

2:00 pm

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for State for coming into the House and I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. My party is broadly in favour of PPPs and this Bill in particular but the Minister of State should outline some examples of how this might work because the terms in the Bill are complicated, referring for example, to more interaction between the PPPs and the NDFA. I would like examples of how this will work in respect of water and sewerage facilities. I can see how it will work in respect of schools and similar projects but I am not optimistic about water and sewerage projects.

According to the Bill this will be based on best practice but where is there best practice in this country? PPPs have not worked in England. Is the Ringsend sewerage plant an example of best practice? I am not sure it is. There is major concern about water pricing and waste water treatment facilities for the next 20 to 25 years. This could be a major cost to businesses and farmers. The cost is not known yet because the people involved in PPPs do not want to lose money. They will build an annual inflation rate into the pricing every year for 20 or 25 years. Will the Minister of State outline how this will work in practice? If the annual inflation rate is built in year on year, in five or 15 years the cost of water and sewerage facilities will be prohibitive for small businesses and this could drive them out of operation.

When one adds the polluter pays principle to the PPPs, the business community must pay a significant portion of the installation and running costs of new schemes. In many cases the business community will have to pay for water leaks. Under some schemes, every house and business in the country is being metered. Every property that has a water connection will be metered in the few years.

Water and sewerage and waste water treatment units will be a major business. It might happen that the production of water will be in the hands of a few because the PPP system is another way to privatise these facilities. Will the Minister of State comment on that because few people would have the expertise in providing PPPs and those already in the business will have first call? Until now in most cases local authorities have managed these facilities but they are being pushed out. The town councils no longer have a function in waste water management but county councils should be responsible for water services, whether waste water or water quality.

Otherwise, if we are to do it through PPPs, we are handing it over to private individuals. This would be a first step towards the privatisation of water treatment and waste water facilities. I support the Bill but I invite the Minister of State to outline how he envisages projects operating from start to finish.

I am not altogether happy to hear projects are to be conducted on the basis of best practice because there is no best practice in this country and that approach under PPPs did not work in the UK. I have reservations on this aspect of the Bill. I favour the best practice approach in other areas but not in the area of waste water treatment.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.