Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to apologise to the House for my absence earlier and thank Members for enabling me to go to the Dáil, where tributes were paid to Garda Adrian Donohoe. I thank Senators from both sides for agreeing to that because it was important for me, as a Member of the Oireachtas for County Louth, to be there.

At the heart of all of this - notwithstanding Senator Cullinane's point about poverty proofing, which I agree must happen - is the fact that if the amendment were to succeed, it would affect another section of the Bill, whereby the regulator would not be able to do anything at all. The effect of what Senator Cullinane is suggesting would be that nothing at all would happen until the poverty-proofing and affordability issues were addressed. The Bill could only commence then, which means Irish Water or Uisce Éireann would have no legal authority to do any other work in the interim.

What goes to the heart of what we are doing here is that the water charges will have to be fair and will have to be seen to be fair. As I said last week, during the consultations we have had so far, we have met people who are champions of those on lower incomes, including Father Seán Healy of Social Justice Ireland, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and other similar organisations. There is a process in place that involves consultation not just with those who advocate on behalf of the poor but also with other Departments, most particularly the Department of Social Protection. All of these issues will be dealt with and will be properly considered. In that context, I ask Senator Cullinane to consider withdrawing his amendment because nothing could be done if it were passed. It would effectively mean that the regulator could not deal with any of the other issues involved here. I ask him to withdraw it although I accept that he has the right to put it to a vote. I also accept that at the heart of the amendment is the point made by Senator Cullinane about affordability and fairness. It is my job and that of the Government to be accountable to the Oireachtas in that regard. I am happy to discuss this further in an Oireachtas committee and to go through all of the issues when the time comes and the charges are decided by the regulator and the Government.

Notwithstanding everything said by Senator Cullinane, a householder who happens to live north of the Border, in County Armagh or in Belfast, for example, pays, on average, the equivalent of ¤1,000 per annum for all of the services he or she receives. Those service charges are decided by the Executive in Northern Ireland and by the local councils. All parties who sit on the Executive and on the local councils contribute to that decision-making process. This year, a proposal was agreed by Belfast City Council that those charges would increase. I believe the vote on that was unanimous and all parties, including Sinn Féin, supported an increase of 2%. I wish to insert reality into the debate and make that point to Senator Cullinane.

Senator Cullinane also made a point about water conservation and he is correct that a significant amount of money will have to be spent on the rehabilitation of our water mains network. As we all know, over 40% of water, on average, is lost or unaccounted for, which is a scandal that we must not allow to continue. A significant portion of the moneys raised from water charges will be spent on fixing the leaks. The regulator must insist that Uisce Éireann draws up a year-by-year plan for reducing the amount of unaccounted-for water. There are different rates of water loss in different counties. In Dublin, the rate is approximately 23% or 24% but other counties are losing more than 50% of their treated water. There are significant issues to be addressed in this regard.

I ask Senator Cullinane to reconsider his amendment.