Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. I commend the Government on having listened to the people. Perhaps it took the Government too long to come out with these measures. However, the annual water charges will be capped at €160 for a single adult household and €260 for all other households until the end of 2018. In the case of a single adult household the cost will be €60 per annum. I am unsure what the cost per week will be, but it will be approximately €1.15. For other households it will be no more than €1.60. The charge for water in and out will now be €3.70 per 1,000 litres, almost 25% lower than the previous subsidised rate, and it will be capped at the relevant household rate.

The Minister of State said that children will go free. It has already been noted that PPS numbers are no longer required. I had wondered from day 1 why they were required. The starting date for domestic water charging is being deferred until 1 January next year and bills will issue in April 2015. Metered households will be able to pay less than the capped charge if their metered usage is lower than the relevant capped charge. Will that come into existence immediately for people who have been metered at this stage, or will meters be functioning straight away where they have been installed? I commend the metering situation and I can see a major benefit given that 50% of our treated water is being wasted and lost forever underneath the ground. Metering will identify where these leaks are and will encourage investment to fix the leakages.

It is worth noting that the revised package of measures will provide households with certainty about charges until the end of 2018.

I saw a scale recently that indicated that water charges in Ireland are the lowest in Europe. The Minister has stated that we will legislate to ensure that if any future Government sought to change this position, the matter would have to be put to the people in a referendum.

The new board will provide stronger governance and improved setting of strategic objectives. I also welcome the direction of Ervia's board not to proceed with its performance-related award mechanism for 2013 and this year. The Minister mentioned in his opening statement that in Northern Ireland, and we should make the comparison, each household will pay £412, which is nearly €500. Health and educational costs must and will be reduced to cater for that.

Some 50% of our treated water was being lost through leaks so we had to take on that outstanding problem. From my experience the cost of metering must have increased astronomically. I have done the figures in terms of the cost of digging up a concrete footpath, tarmacadam or whatever, installing the meters, reinstating it and sealing it, and it is less than €250 per household. The actual costs are astronomical.

I understand that in the first phase 1.1 million meters were to be installed. Half of those have been installed ahead of target, which is good to hear, and €100 million under expended. That is good news but I fear what the final figure will be. There are 250,000 meters to be installed in the second phase. I hope the installation figures will continue to diminish and that we will be ahead of target on the estimated costs.