Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, and congratulate him on his appointment.

Water is a necessity. I have always believed essential services such as a water supply should be delivered as a public service. A flat household charge would be unfair and would not discriminate between houses with five bathrooms or none. Metering is unworkable, as the leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, stated in the Irish Examiner on 28 June 2010.

Having listened to Senator Ivana Bacik's contribution, she should have no difficulty in supporting Fianna Fáil's motion because I will be supportive of metered water charges when meters are installed. We all agree that water must be conserved, but what we are doing in tabling the motion is trying to get clarity, given the confusion caused in the past two weeks by what the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, said before he was reined in by the Taoiseach, and by what the Tánaiste and some of Senator Ivana Bacik's Labour Party colleagues said compared to what some of the Fine Gael Senators said about the issue. The motion asks the Government to state clearly whether it will introduce a flat rate household water charge in January 2012. In his response the Minister said there were no answers to any of the questions asked. Therefore, I am none the wiser as to whether a flat household charge or water charge will be introduced in January 2012.

I am glad we are debating the issue. I was glad to hear Senators John Whelan and Ivana Bacik clarify their positions and say they supported metered water charges. I agree that is the right way forward and my grouping has no difficulty in supporting this. The motion was not tabled to make political points on the issue, but there is total confusion regarding the Government's stance on it. We gave an opportunity to the Minister and I was glad he addressed the House in an attempt to clarify the position, but it has not been clarified. He stated previously, as Senator Cáit Keane stated, that the household charge - we still do not know when it will be introduced - was not a water charge. He said we would not have water charges until meters were in place. That is welcome and that is what the motion states, but he stated the money from the flat household charge - we do not know how much it will be or when it will be implemented - would be used to pay for water metering. If that is what I understand from this debate, it is a relatively new departure.

I do not agree with the Sinn Féin amendment. We cannot be in a position where necessities such as this precious resource are not paid for. That is not possible or feasible and the people are entitled to know where the Government stands on the issue. If I am correct in understanding what was said on the Government side, there will be no water charges until meters are in place. That is what I understand from what was said by a number of contributors to the debate, but that is not what I understand the Minister to have said because he did not say it in his statement. However, the implementation or otherwise of the household charge is still hanging over proceedings. The position is not clear. Will it be a flat charge? If it is, we will oppose it. The terms of the EU-IMF agreement do not set out a flat water charge. Senator John Whelan stated the previous Government had shirked its responsibility to make tough decisions. As somebody who supported that Government as a backbencher, I know that many extremely difficult and unpopular decisions were taken. If we cannot have clarity from Government Members on issues such as water charges or JLCs, God help them when they get to the budget.