Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Therefore, no investment was made.

The new system, on the other hand, will allow for a new service for the cost of householders' water charges and that service is investment. There is no double taxation. The water and sewerage system is an absolute disaster and we simply do not have the necessary billions of euro to invest it. The alternative to a public utility is for the State to borrow the required moneys and add those borrowings to the Exchequer deficit - the deficit we are only just getting under control. The Opposition should be truthful and present this reality to the electorate. If we were previously taxed for water services, then where is the modern water and sewerage infrastructure? Is the Opposition seriously proposing a deficit increase? If Members vote down this legislation, they are saying they want investment in water infrastructure but will adopt the Sinn Féin tactic of wanting every service possible while opposing any method to pay for it. That would be endorsing the same-as-usual, populist politics that dragged this State to its knees. We are in the process of dragging ourselves out of that morass and I urge Senators to play no part in reversing that.

The simple truth is that we never taxed people sufficiently to fund a modern water infrastructure structure. Direct State investment is currently unaffordable and would, in any event, increase the deficit. The establishment of a water utility is the only way forward, unpopular as it may be. It is entirely our fault that this type of populist rhetoric has taken hold; I will not blame anyone else for that. The incompetence displayed in the setting up of Irish Water has caused justifiable anger and mistrust. However, the alternative is financially much worse. I hope my colleagues, the Independent Senators, will forgo the opportunity to give the Government a kicking and instead do the right thing by supporting this legislation.