Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. While I did not have an opportunity to speak on Second Stage yesterday, I will not make a Second Stage speech. Like the Minister and many Senators, I have received abuse on social media and via emails, etc. That is part of what we do and we must accept it when we put our names on ballot papers and sign up for public life.

I listened intently to yesterday's debate, which was like a ping-pong game over and back across the House from Opposition to Government. Many good points were made on both sides of the argument. I believe water should be paid for. I believe we need a utility company to run it but it needs to be run properly. I have seen people get exercised over this, people who would not normally get exercised. I do not think at this stage it is about payment for water. I think it is years and years of austerity having beaten down on people. They have been gradually hit with charge after charge. I think people have reached the point where they can take no more. This is the final straw.

It is not easy to impose a charge on people. However, as the economy grows, it is incumbent on us to put something back into the people's pockets that helps them to pay these charges. The universal social charge should be looked at. I know we have taken 80,000 people out of the universal social charge net, but we need to take many more out of it. It was introduced as a temporary measure. Further changes on the universal social charge would put money back into people's pockets enabling them to pay for these facilities.

In Kerry we have had 18 years of not paying for water. I accept that Labour was party to abolish the water charges back then. We have seen what 18 years of not paying has done for the water in Kerry. The pipes in mid-Kerry are constantly breaking, leaving people without water. Many houses receive their water through lead pipes. There are constant breakdowns at the pumps. All of these have to be paid for when they have to be replaced. We need to get money in to address this.

In the area where I live the cost of water for me is €30 year for the year. I have no sewerage facilities. I have my own bioCycle unit. I have mains water. The charge is €130 for two adults and we will be refunded €100, so the cost for the whole year is €30. I do not think people are on the streets protesting about the €30 but about what it stands for.

For once rural Ireland trumps urban Ireland because the cost to us is less, which does not happen very often. People in rural areas have been paying for water for many years. Many people I talk to are not going on social media, e-mailing, going on the radio and voicing their opinions. They have been paying for it for years and cannot understand what the hype is about. There are two different opinions out there. We hear the ones from the people who are most vocal through the newspapers, television and Internet, but many other people are not.

I believe that water has to be paid for and we have to set up a utility company to provide the service. However, it is the composition of that utility company that has incensed people. Using the word "bonus" at this time is inappropriate. I know the Minister will refer to the increments, which I understand. I know there are workers on low pay who are depending on that. However, the word "bonus" drove people off their heads at a time when they were being hit in their pockets and paying left, right and centre for everything. It is very hard for the public to take that word.

Will the Minister do whatever he has to do to ensure that Irish Water will never be privatised? The Labour Party group here in the Seanad voted to ensure that Irish Water would never be privatised.