Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have expressed my disappointment on many occasions during the Order of Business about the time it was taking to sort out the issues in Irish Water. Serious mistakes were made, but my belief is that there was an overly ambitious plan to get a metering system installed nationwide. I am now pleased that the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, have put in place a scheme that is fair, clear and humane. It will mean that for the next four years, people will have absolute certainty on what it will cost. Many households will pay just €1.15 per week while households with two adults or more will pay €3 per week. There is a whole range of options to make that payment simple and small as people have the resources to meet it. The Minister of State has indicated that in situations where people are under severe hardship, the community welfare officer will be prepared to assist.

Some Senators have criticised the fact that the water conservation grant will be paid to people in group schemes and people who have invested in their own wells. I believe this is an acknowledgement from Government that people have invested in their own infrastructure and have paid for their water for the last 30, 40 or 50 years in some cases. It is only right and proper that they would be treated as equal to everybody else who is going to be metered from now on.

I would advise people to register with Irish Water. I do not want to see a situation similar to the one that obtained with the septic tanks when Senator Ó Clochartaigh and his party advised people not to register for €5 and it ended up costing them €50. I am not sure if Sinn Féin refunded these people the money lost but I would hate to see people incurring additional costs as a result of failing to register.

I hope the metering installation programme is accelerated. Metering saves money and helps to identify where the serious leaks are. We saw some figures which indicated the very serious and significant amounts of water being lost into the ground. There are plans for a major infrastructure programme. There are 22,000 homes on boil water notices. I am pleased to be able to indicate here today that over half of the people of Roscommon who have been subject to boil water notices for several years will by Christmas no longer be, and nor will the remainder come March or April.

After a slow start, we are on the right course. Hopefully, in the years to come we will see an investment which will ensure we have safe, clean water, attract inward investment to our communities and allow us to promote and market our tourism industry in a more effective way. Everyone who turns a tap in an Irish home will have good, safe clean water. I commend the Minister of State for the work that has been done in recent times although I am critical of how this project started out.