Seanad debates

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage

 

3:30 pm

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

If it is helpful, the points made by the Senator are subject to the implementation of the Act. In other words, things that happen as a result of the implementation of the Act are different costs to the costs covered in the section, which are purely the administrative costs of the Act.

The Senator has raised a very important question. Let us compare what happened with the HSE and the health boards with what is happening with local authorities and Uisce Éireann. They are two entirely different procedures. Overnight everybody shifted from the health boards into the HSE but in this case there are service level agreements.

Each individual local authority will sign a service level agreement with Uisce Éireann as to what functions it will carry out. The local authority will carry out those functions and will be paid for carrying out those functions but will be under the direction of the Minister and Uisce Éireann. In other words, the staff will continue to be employed by the local authority. If one works with a local authority one may have the option to transfer to Uisce Éireann. Workers may remain with their local authority for at least 12 years should they so wish. At the end of that period, if workers were still doing that work, they would transfer to Uisce Éireann.

There are more than 4,000 people working in the water services nationally. It is important that the transition between all 34 local authorities to the unitary one body, Irish Water, will happen over a period, that it will be phased and paced and not cause disruption and that there will be no loss of corporate memory in respect of all the issues that workers would have and may not wish to transfer. There are all sorts of issues there. The key, as pointed out, is that there is an independent chairman who meets the local authority side, Uisce Éireann, the Department and the unions to iron out issues that arise from time to time. This will ensure as smooth as possible a transition of the services and of the people who want to transfer and that there is a period within which everything beds down in a cost effective way, because this is about getting new synergies between Uisce Éireann and the local authorities. Not everybody who works in the water services works 100% of their time with water, but many do. If one is working with a local authority today and decides to retire in five years' time, what happens to one's job. I presume a new job would be created in Uisce Éireann for which applicants would apply. All of those issues have to be dealt with in the spirit of a calm resolution which works to the benefit of everybody.

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