Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I raised some points on this issue on Second Stage and the Minister may be familiar with my views. It is clear there is a potential flaw, not so much in the legislation but because of the disincentive to conserve. We are full of contradictions in this House. First, we do not want to cap usage or the charge on usage. However, this section gets to the heart of the philosophy behind the Bill, which is about conserving water. Certainly, for the first period or up to 2018 there is no incentive to conserve water and yet we are all going to get €100 for doing so.

In one way the other side of the House need not worry about it because it means we will all pay less. It will reduce the amount for water on a weekly basis in the first place and it will be utterly uncapped. In other words, there is no incentive to conserve water. We could keep the taps running between now and December 2018 and that is a concern.

The other issue I want to raise on this section-----