Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith fáilte a chur roimh an Aire go dtí an Seanad. Is ó mo chontae féin agus is onóir dom é fáilte a chur roimhe.

I agree that metering is and will be the fairest way of charging for water consumption. The more one uses, the more one pays. Metering will educate people to conserve water and to be careful in their use of water. I agree with the Minister of State that metering will identify leaks. Small but visible leaks are often ignored by householders or landowners. I predict that when householders and landowners study their water charge bills, they will see the cost of those leaks and decide to remedy them.

I live at the foot of the Cooley mountains and I see numerous rivers flowing down the mountains into the sea. I often think there must be something we can do to help conserve more of this valuable commodity. We have reservoirs in Omeath and Carlingford. We should consider the possibility of increasing reservoir capacity in mountainous areas in particular. It grieves me to see water flowing down the side of the mountain in wet winters. I note the programme will reduce leakages of a valuable commodity by 15%. The Bill also plans for the future which is most important. The new funding model for the domestic sector will be based on fairness. Should the initial agreement period of 12 years be reviewed so that it could be a period of five or ten years, for example? There is obviously a reason for choosing a period of 12 years.