David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 22:

In page 9, line 4, after “Water” to insert the following:“including householders, commercial water users and representatives of the trade unions with members in Irish Water”.

This relates to the public water forum which the Government seeks to establish. People will be forgiven for being sceptical about this forum, what it will achieve, its logic and whether it will add any value to the operations of Irish Water. People have had the experience with the health fora, which are seen as talking shops. There are joint policing committees, which again do not have any powers and there are question marks about their effectiveness. Now there will be a public water forum. While I might not fully agree with it, there is a view that this is just a sop to pretend to people that the Government will listen to them.
There are concerns about the forum. It is interesting that we are discussing this amendment 24 hours after RTE released papers and documents that were sent from Bord Gáis to Irish Water and to the Minister which show that the Government was not prepared to listen to Bord Gáis on the installation of water meters and their use. The Government is not even listening to the body that was supposed to have the expertise to deliver Irish Water so if it is not prepared to listen to Bord Gáis, I do not see how it will listen to people's views on the public water forum.
In any event, the forum is being established. We must give it at least fair wind and the opportunity to prove itself. We will seek to do that and to enhance it by ensuring that the forum includes householders, who will be able to offer an input on how this system is operating for them, how effective Irish Water is and problems that might arise for householders, commercial water users, given that they already pay water charges, and representatives of the trade unions, who represent the staff in Irish Water. One could argue that other sectors should be on the forum but we have selected the three mentioned in the amendment. If the amendment is accepted, they will be an element of the total number, which ranges from 12 to 60, depending on how many the Minister appoints.
There is also a concern that these are appointments by the Minister. Perhaps he will explain how that will happen. There have been major difficulties with this Government in respect of public appointments, even on the board of Irish Water. It was not long ago that the Minister of State appointed a member of the board to be his driver and the board member had to resign as a consequence. Unfortunately, there have been problems with political appointments to the board, so we hope nothing similar happens with the public water forum. Perhaps the Minister will confirm that this will not happen, how it will not happen and how the appointments will be made. Essentially, how will this add value to the operation of Irish Water? How will it be used effectively? Will the Minister accept the amendment, which seeks to strengthen the forum to ensure it does not just become a talking shop but can add real value to the operation of the company?