Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to attend the Seanad and to have this opportunity to outline and clarify some of the important points with regard to the national metering programme that is currently under way. Senators will know that meters are being installed in homes throughout the country in a programme unparalleled anywhere else in terms of the speed or scale of the installations. On average, a meter is being installed somewhere in the country every 30 seconds.

In the context of the debate, it is important to remember why Irish Water was established and why we need water metering. I refer to the legacy of the substandard water networks which the Government and the country must now deal with. Boil water notices are commonplace in many counties, raw sewage is allowed to flow into water courses and there are unacceptable levels of leakage of treated water. Therefore, there is an obvious urgent requirement for investment in the water networks and an urgent need for renewal of those networks. Senators have outlined the problems, but the Government's focus is on finding and presenting solutions to allow for required investment.

I remind the House why the Government asked Irish Water to implement this programme. In the view of many who accept the need for domestic water charges, metering is the fairest form of domestic charging. This view is supported by the OECD, an international organisation that has conducted significant research into water charging and policy. The reason metering is fair is that it links people's use of water services to their contribution to funding the water system.

I will address the point about health and safety as raised by Senators. Irish Water, as the national utility, is the responsible authority for all aspects of health and safety in the delivery of the metering programme. I am confident that Irish Water is fully compliant with all health and safety legislation. The Health and Safety Authority is an independent government agency with oversight in this regard. If Senators have any specific issues of concern, I urge them to contact either Irish Water or the Health and Safety Authority, which will investigate any issues of concern to Senators or members of the public. I wish to disassociate myself from comments about cowboy operators. We should give due respect to workers who are going out to do a day's work. There is a better way to address the problem of non-compliance, if that is the case. I suspect it is not the case, but if it is, I have outlined ways in which Senators can raise those concerns.

It was stated by some Senators that people are paying for the mess created by this Government. I remind Senators that this Government has for the past four years been working to clean up the mess. This is another legacy of under-investment and a lack of management with regard to the water networks, which has resulted in substandard systems that will not meet the needs of society. This must be addressed.

It is timely to recall that the previous Government also supported a domestic water metering programme. I remind Fianna Fáil Senators that in 2010 the national recovery plan committed to introducing water charges for domestic customers and that customer billing would be made on the basis of metered charges. The plan also stated that the NPRF had agreed in principle to fund the metering programme to the tune of €550 million. Therefore, there is a contradiction between the motion proposed by Fianna Fáil Senators and what the same party adopted as a national recovery plan in 2010.

The Government's revised water charging system reflects the need to provide clarity and simplicity to households. For this reason, households know the charge they will pay until the end of 2018. However, the incentive to conserve water exists under the new water charging regime, which commenced on 1 January. Households whose metered usage is less than the relevant usage under the capped charge, be it a single adult household or a multi-adult household, will pay less than the capped charge. In other words, they will pay only for what they use. If, after a meter is installed, a household's usage for the first year is less than the relevant capped charge, the household will be due a once-off rebate of the difference between the metered usage charge and the capped charge. This incentive is vital in encouraging people to use water more responsibly, to reduce their leakage and to view water as a precious, expensive resource from the outset.

I refer to queries raised by Senator Landy about non-payment by tenants of properties. I assure the Senator that clarity and detail will be provided in forthcoming legislation which will ensure that the system will be fair and will provide ample opportunity for people to participate in a fair payment plan before any penalties apply. I refer to a query about the taking in charge of estates and the role of Irish Water and the local authority. A protocol has been developed by my Department and circulated to both Irish Water and local authorities. I am happy to correspond with the Senator and to provide further details.

The €100 water conservation grant will be paid to eligible households that register with Irish Water. It will also help households to adopt conservation measures. This issue was debated extensively before Christmas. I remind Senators that expenditure of €100 on minor water conservation interventions can make a significant difference to the use of water in households. My Department, Irish Water and others, will provide information on how small investments in water-saving devices or leak fixing can make a big difference to water usage levels. If this Government were not to take any action, our water systems and water capacity would not meet the demands of our citizens, of society, of business or of agriculture. Therefore, doing nothing is not an option. Future generations would not thank us if we did not intervene now to ensure adequate investment in the water utility.

Good planning, high-quality meters and quality control define the metering programme. Most meters are expected to last considerably longer than the manufacturer's 15-year design life for the product. Experience in the UK has shown that meters installed there over 20 years ago are still operational. Indeed, since the time such meters were installed, technology, materials and manufacturing have improved. Irish Water has implemented a rigorous testing regime both at the point of meter manufacture and in service, so that it can monitor performance throughout a meter's lifetime. Information from these tests will enable the utility to better determine its maintenance and meter replacement strategy. Contrary to some inaccurate suggestions, there will be no need for a wholesale programme to replace the meters. The devices will be maintained and replaced over a much longer period of time than that of the life design of the meters and at a substantially reduced cost.

The €539 million cost of phase one of the metering programme represents a significant capital investment which covers all the domestic customers of Irish Water whose dwellings can be readily metered. It is important that there is clarity around the €539 million cost of the current programme. The vast majority of the cost of phase one of the programme relates to the construction work in advance of the installation of boundary boxes and meters. This work will not need to be repeated when meters are replaced; therefore replacement costs will be substantially lower than those of the current programme. Maintenance of meters will involve some cost. It is estimated by Irish Water that this will amount to some €5 million per annum, to be funded from its operational budget. To put this in context, Irish Water's current operational budget is approximately €800 million a year - a budget set and examined by the Commission for Energy Regulation. The regulator has demanded a 7% year-on-year reduction in operational spending. Only efficiently incurred costs are being passed on to the customers. I reassure Senators on this point.

Irish Water commissioned a study on possible approaches to metering properties which were not included in the phase one programme, including apartments and properties with shared connections. On the basis of this report, it has been agreed in principle that some 48,000 apartments identified in the report as being easily metered should be included in phase one. The advancement of any future phases will be a matter for consideration by the CER, based on proposals from Irish Water.

It is important to remember that domestic water meters will be as resilient and as high-quality as those used for electricity or gas. As with other utilities, any deficient meters will be detected and replaced under ongoing maintenance programmes; maintenance budgets will be low by overall budgetary levels. Meters will generally be replaced after a long period of use. We need meters to develop a public water system that is defined by conservation and low leakage. That is what the Government is seeking to deliver for the public.

The benefits from meters are already evident. One of the main deficiencies in our public water system is the unacceptably high level of leakage, which I have already mentioned, with the national level of unaccounted-for water currently at up to 49% of all water produced. High leakage means higher water production and treatment costs than are necessary, which in turn means accelerated capital investment in treatment plants. Some 10% of national leakage is on the customer side - that is, within the boundary of a household's property. These leaks can often go undetected as they occur within pipes below a house or between the boundary of a property and a dwelling itself. Without meters neither Irish Water nor the household would know about many customer-side leaks and a significant proportion of national leakage, which all sides of this House and the Dáil agree is unacceptable, would remain untackled. Consider the fact that metering has helped to identify 22 houses that are using over 1 million litres of water a day through leakage under driveways. This is a fact. That volume of water is enough to serve the daily needs of a medium-sized town such as Gorey or Dungarvan.

Consider the fact that Irish Water has identified 78 households in one area of Dublin whose combined usage is 1 million litres of water per day, when that many houses should normally have a combined usage of about 30,000 litres per day. This is purely factual evidence of the amount of leakage that has been occurring, and it must be tackled without further delay. Would we be better off with a water charging regime without meters in which such a huge waste of water would go unnoticed? I do not think so, and the evidence proves otherwise. That is why these meters are important.

Irish Water has been identifying these customer-side leaks as part of the domestic metering campaign, and the proposed first fix free scheme that Irish Water will implement will help households to address these leaks and conserve water. This Government-funded scheme, which will shortly be piloted before being rolled out nationally, is evidence of the Government's and Irish Water's commitment to supporting households in managing water usage and reducing leakage.

With over 552,000 meters having been installed so far under the metering programme, approximately 1,300 jobs are being sustained and providing much needed economic stimulus throughout the country. In February 2013, the Government announced as a target that 25% of these jobs would go to people from one of three social inclusion categories: those on the live register, those working for SMEs, and apprentices, graduates or school leavers. Today, that target has been well exceeded, with about 84% of those contracted to install meters coming from one of these categories. Some of these workers have experienced horrendous violence in the course of their work. In addition, they have experienced abuse and injury, which is unacceptable. In one case, meter installers were held in a van for more than 12 hours without access to food, water or toilet facilities. I am sure that all Senators will agree that that is totally unacceptable. Installers and their families have also experienced cyber-bullying and intimidation through social media.

These incidents have been inflicted by a minority of protestors, but every act should be condemned by all. While people have every right to protest peacefully, these workers have the right to a safe working environment. They are simply doing their jobs. I want to acknowledge the difficulties these workers have faced and commend them on their dignity through these testing times.

Not only has the social inclusion target been exceeded, but also the original 2014 metering target provided to the CER of installing 400,000 meters. More than 540,000 meters were installed by the end of 2014, which is about 140,000 more than initially planned. The programme remains on track to see 1.1 million meters installed by the end of 2016. Completion will then pave the way for further phases of the programme, which will focus on installing meters in dwellings that are more technically difficult to meter, with the costs involved to be approved by the CER as part of the consideration of the capital investment plans for the next regulatory cycle.

The Government's water sector reform programme has many parts. It has involved the establishment of a major national utility, as well as the introduction of a new funding model for water services, including the introduction of domestic water charges. It has seen the introduction of independent economic regulation of the sector. Yesterday saw another milestone, with the transfer of ownership of the underground water network from local authorities to Irish Water. In less than two weeks, households will face the date by which they will need to register with Irish Water in order to ensure an accurate first bill.

The domestic metering programme has been a key component of these reforms. The programme that will help to ensure conservation and reduced leakage is at the heart of a reformed public water system. The meters are high-quality and Irish Water has ensured the necessary quality controls are in place. The ambitious programme of installing meters throughout the country is a one-off major capital programme which will not need to be repeated in the future.

We must never lose sight of the fact that these water sector reforms are aimed at addressing the deficiencies within our water system and the legacy of the sub-standard water networks in our country. As I have outlined, these deficiencies include high leakage, poor water quality, inadequate waste water treatment, raw sewage flowing out into water courses, and insufficient water supply capacity, especially in major urban centres. We are working to create a sustainable world-class water system. We want to ensure that all who use these water services receive a quality of service that protects public health and the environment and facilitates a developing and dynamic economy. Metering is a key component of these reforms, the merits of which will far outweigh the costs.