Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to address issues raised in the brief contributions from Senators, which is unfortunate, in my view, but that is the way it has been, unfortunately.

I remind Senators that we need Irish Water; it is a necessity as a utility. Put simply, if we do not have Irish Water, we do not have the capacity to borrow the money to invest in much needed infrastructure to provide a water supply for future generations for domestic use, for future industrial development and many other reasons that are clear to everyone in this House. Irish Water is completely necessary. The alternative is direct funding through the Exchequer. I remind the House of the scale of what is required - €600 million to €1 billion a year - which is not a viable option.

I will address a number of issues raised - or were not raised but would have been raised probably - I wish to be fair. The issue of privatisation was raised by a number of Senators. I appreciate what this House decided and I respect this House. As a former Member of the House I always respect the debates in this House which contribute substantially to the body politic. Sometimes debates in this House can contribute in a way that is not necessarily seen in the Dáil. I will bring the decision of the House to the attention of the Government and to the attention of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste in particular. I will not rule out that this is the road we should go. I say that out straight. It is something that will need to be digested because it is not a decision one can make very quickly but we will need to digest it.

I have some questions. First, the legitimate concern is where do we join the line as regards other areas and other utilities. I wonder whether we would have calls or cause to do the same with regard to other areas such as electricity and other areas I mentioned previously. It is a genuine issue which we may need to debate further or at least to analyse. Senator O'Donnell asked whether the Oireachtas could use other mechanisms to close off this issue. I believe the issue is closed off but it may be necessary to give extra strength to it. The Government will need to consider the possibilities. We will need to take legal advice on the matter as it is not something that can be undertaken quickly, needing, as it does, an in-depth consideration. I will make the commitment to the House that I will bring the decision made by the House today to the attention of the Government. I will explain and emphasise the nature of the decision. However, we need to look at the impact of any decision if we were to go down the road of holding a referendum. We must consider whether other mechanisms could be used to do, more or less, the same thing.

The second issue raised concerns the charges. We need to bring clarity to the issue of charges very quickly. I am wishing to do so very soon. The Government will make a clear announcement on this and other issues relating to Irish Water. However, I do not apologise for saying that my primary motive is to get this right, whether that is achieved today, tomorrow, next week or whenever. It is a case of making sure we get everything right.

The charges must be affordable and modest and they must reflect the concerns of families. They will need to be set out clearly for a number of years and this is what will happen. As I said in my opening contribution, issues relating to the pay structure and bonuses and the board of Irish Water will be dealt with in co-operation with the new board.

I expect advertisements to be made soon. I am working with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy White. Through the newly created public advertisement process, we will ensure the best calibre of people. The process is an open one. We need people with defined expertise and the Government will define the type of individual we need. To be honest, this should probably have been done with greater vigour previously.

Customer communications and stakeholder management are critical issues and will improve because they must. Stakeholders across the country need to be managed better by Irish Water and the communication strategy must improve, particularly as it relates to customers. I welcome the fact that the chief executive, Mr. John Tierney, has apologised for certain failings by Irish Water in that regard. It was appropriate of him to do so.

As Senators know, representatives of Irish Water will attend Leinster House this evening. It must and will improve its stakeholder engagement. It is critical that all of the issues relating to Irish Water be explained to people, for example, why it is doing certain work, and that the necessary capital investment programme be promoted. Irish Water must also deal with the resultant inquiries. This will be done.

The capital investment programme is considerable and Irish Water needs to borrow money to implement it. The programme will fix many of the country's problems with water that are often raised in Adjournment debates or, in the Dáil, Topical Issue debates. We need a programme lasting a fixed number of years if we are to show people why we have embarked on the road of Irish Water, what charges are necessary and what results will emanate from same. This is a question of ensuring those results, for example, having the clean water that is necessary to achieve our goals.

Reference was made to Irish Water's setup costs. The independent regulator assessed 95% of those costs as being real and necessary. We must respect the regulator's independence and reflect its advice instead of trying to overshoot something that is not a genuine issue. Through the development in expertise of Irish Water, we have a better wastewater service management process, located in Ringsend in Dublin. The saving from same equals the setup costs of Irish Water, which shows the latter's value.

The next issue was not raised but, to reflect my expectation that it would be, I will address it. I understand that the use of PPS numbers is a concern. However, I must also acknowledge that our country is allocating €300 million in allowances. We need a system to verify whether they are being used correctly. Many other companies use PPS numbers. One is often asked for a PPS number in one's weekly or daily life. I am aware of Senator's Quinn proposal, which will be dealt with in the normal way of democratic debate.

I appreciate what Senator Landy began to say about the workers. It is probably something that I should have acknowledged. I believe in the democratic right to protest, etc., but I hope that every Senator will respect the fact that those workers are only trying to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Be they local authority or Irish Water public sector workers or private subcontractors installing meters, everyone should be respected when doing this work.

An improvement is necessary and expected in the relationship between Irish Water and local authorities and in the communication of issues at local level. The process by which the changeover to a utility like Irish Water is managed needs to be improved, given the fact that customers on the ground have been dealing with local authorities for many years.

I acknowledge this debate and wish there had been more contributions. I have reflected on a number of issues that were not raised but that I anticipated would be raised. Every matter that was mentioned is being addressed. The Government has large decisions to make and is in the process of doing so. We will make an announcement on Irish Water in the near future and address people's concerns, which have been reflected in this and the Lower House and in the marches of recent weeks.