David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendments and I wanted to talk on the section in any case. The section provides for the preparation of codes of practice by Irish Water and it covers many areas. This mainly concerns the user and, while I hate to use the word "consumer" when it comes to water, unfortunately, that is the road we are travelling down. The codes of practice will make provision for customer service standards, billing, methods of payment of water charges and the provision of information to customers of Irish Water, and these codes of practice will be set by the Commission for Energy Regulation.

In some of our previous exchanges, while we genuinely wanted to make sure the Oireachtas would be much more prescriptive than it is and not leave this to any other commission, the Minister of State somehow suggested we were not being fair to the CER and were perhaps somewhat undermining that organisation. That is not at all the point. It does not matter what organisation is coming up with the codes of practice. The core point is that it should be the Oireachtas, the democratically elected representatives, who deal with these issues.

We saw with the household charge and the property tax the problems that arose with, for example, methods of payment and other difficulties. If similar difficulties arise with water charges, it would not be acceptable at that time for the Government to pass the buck on to the CER by saying it has nothing to do with the Government and is a matter for the CER. That would be a mistake on the part of the Government and it would be unfair to put the commission in that position. We should be prescriptive in this regard.

The section also deals with the methods of payment and billing for water. However, we still do not know who is going to set the charge and, in particular, whether the CER will set it. If it does, that is also unfair because, again, this is clearly passing the buck by a Government which is bringing in water charges, saying they are necessary, standing over them and then not being prepared to set the charge itself. Instead, by farming it out to the CER, it will have to take the flak which comes from the public. I have no doubt that when, in time, the full cost of water services is passed on to the customer - I hate using that term but it is the one used in the Bill and is the reality when water charges come in - the Government will say it is not its fault because the rate has been set by the CER, which is fully independent, nothing to do with the Government and all of that. That is not nonsense. The Government is bringing in water charges.

I have a grave difficulty with supporting this section, which simply allows for the CER to set the codes of practice, not the Oireachtas. It is very appropriate that the Oireachtas would be much more prescriptive in all of these areas, particularly in regard to the billing and methods of payment. This will be a big issue for people once it becomes a reality. I believe the Minister of State will accept, leaving aside the fact he supports water charges and would sell this as a good idea, a view he is entitled to hold, that many people are very concerned about the level of charges coming at them. The Government must not simply attempt to wash its hands. We have seen what happened with the HSE, where Ministers wash their hands of responsibility and say "It is the HSE's fault, not our fault". I would hate to see that happen to the CER when this becomes a hot political issue after people get their bills through the door.

I have grave concerns about this section. I agree with the amendment that it should not just be the commission but also the Oireachtas that is part of the preparation of the codes of practice.