Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. It has been only 24 hours since we last went toe to toe yesterday. The classic line that comes to mind with the Water Services Bill is that if we were to start from anywhere, we would not be starting from here. My thoughts on the Bill it that it is complex, contradictory and a conundrum. I believe we should pay for water in order to conserve what is a limited natural resource. I disagree with Senator Daly on that. That is my philosophy on this. Also it would be to widen the tax base of our citizens, scrap the universal social charge and means test the wealthy, in particular those like me who earn more than €100,000. In assessing any charge or tax of citizens, the issue of fairness and equality must be a key factor. It is clear, as we saw as recently as last week with the ESRI report, that the gap of inequality is getting wider. Inequality is becoming more institutionalised than ever before. I believe strongly that a progressive tax system needs to have been in place and it is within that context that both an equitable property tax and water charge would or could work.
The Government has made an absolute hames of this. I lay the blame at the ineptitude of the former Minister, Phil Hogan. His portfolio above all had the potential to radically change the Irish political and social landscape. His portfolio alone could have delivered on political reform, electoral reform, issues around climate change, local government reform, better delivery of taxation through local government reform, planning, social, housing, property tax and water charges. The list of failed actions and financial calamaries in his legacies are longer than Santa's present list.
The debacle of the setting up and the cost of Irish Water is a clear example of the waste of money and the inept management of public administration. It is no wonder that public trust in our systems and in us is so low or practically non-existent. There are many reasons citizens marched on the streets and even some of the organisers admitted that, but they achieved the volte-faceof public admissions of mistakes by Government, to which the Minister referred in his speech, of the exorbitant original charges for water use.
This is not a good Bill. Even the elemental requirement of conservation is back to front. We are meant to encourage conservation but bizarrely section 5 makes a provision for water conservation to citizens despite the fact that there is uncapped usage of water for a period up to 2018. This is not good law. It is ludicrous. Again, I am not against water charges. I have concerns over the ambiguity in Irish Water's terms and conditions over rain harvesting. If we harvest rain and if it is used to supplement water requirements, particularly with regard to wastewater, will there be consequences? I would like the Minister to give me an answer to that. Water conservation is an enormous challenge for us but it is one that we know that group water schemes have successfully managed to work. There is a working precedent and we know this. Senators must have honest in this House that group water schemes have shown the way forward with regard to conservation, particularly through water metering. I live in Dublin and I defy anybody to tell me otherwise. We need to have the facts and to have clarity in the House during this debate. Therefore, capping water charges in itself is not a good and efficient way to conserve water and this Bill is a political statement of apology, but do two wrongs make a right?
Another issue I have relates to section 11. If 95,000 have already registered with Irish Water, what will happen to the personal public service, PPS, numbers provided? This Bill does not cater for them retrospectively. How can the Minister assure the Seanad that all those PPS numbers will be destroyed? Can he reassure the House that there a transparent mechanism has been put in place to resolve this issue? I do not see that in the Bill. What might the role of the Data Commissioner be in this case?
I acknowledge that a major concern of mine, to which I alerted earlier this week, has been somewhat appeased in section 2 which provides for the holding of a the plebiscite on the ownership of Irish water. From reading section 2 and having listened to the Minister's speech, the Government must put before the people any proposals that may change public ownership of Irish water.
I am frustrated with the incompetencies of the Government which has botched and failed us in many of its promises but for some reason it cannot even manage the administration of policy in a rigorous efficient manner. The legacy of Phil Hogan is damaging to the people of Ireland, an effect which will be felt for years to come. It puts us, or me, in an invidious position with regard to whether we should accept this Bill because it caps necessary water charges yet there is no inducement to conserve water, and the rollout of Irish Water has caused anger, protest, and crucially a waste of money. The passing of this Bill will not resolve the inept mistakes of the Government but it could at least offer certainty and clarity.