Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has been stating throughout that the issue has been about the conservation of water. However, the Minister of State's comments show this Bill is a complete charade for the purpose of introducing water charges. He is providing a completely economically illogical argument and I would explain what I mean by this. As outlined by Senator Cullinane, the cost of bringing in water conservation measures surely would save money. Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out, for example, on an average three-bedroom house that does not have such mechanisms of water harvesting, dual-flush toilets or taps that turn themselves off automatically? Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out on such a house and how much money would be saved by making the rudimentary small changes that would be needed? I imagine the cost of so doing is quite small.

If the Government cannot give a grant would it not make sense, during the initial years, for somebody who is strapped for cash to make the improvements but receive a rebate on his or her water bill instead of paying money to Uisce Éireann? That would improve the cost of the measures. Has the Department carried out a cost benefit analysis of how much money can be saved nationally by implementing such a scheme?

I ask the Minister of State to clarify how much has been spent on installing water meters. It is somewhere in the region of €300 million. Why was €10 million or €15 million of that sum not put aside to grant aid water conservation?