Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Deputy Coffey spent a lot of time in here before the Christmas recess, and I have a funny feeling he will be spending a lot of time here talking about water this year as well. Nevertheless, I do welcome him back.

Fianna Fáil's legacy was the HSE, but this particular Administration's legacy will be Irish Water. It seems to be a nightmare that keeps going on with new instalments every week. We can now see more legislation coming down the tracks from the Government to try to fix the sinking ship.

I support the general thrust of this Private Members' motion, but we have sought to amend it in order to express our overall opposition to water charges and metering. They were initially proposed by Fianna Fáil, which has tabled the motion before the House. The motion refers to the costs involved. By this stage, any argument that Irish Water represents a saving to the taxpayer has been well and truly dismantled. Irish Water estimated last year that €1.77 billion will be required to deliver on the objectives of its 2014-2016 capital investment plan. That included €1.2 billion which had already been made available in 2014, with an additional €200 million voted through supplementary Estimates before Christmas.

Irish Water is proposing to spend €150 million to accelerate leakage reduction. However, as questions from my colleague Deputy Brian Stanley to the Minister revealed, that only matches the total spend on mains rehabilitation over the four-year period up to 2013. Surely the money spent on establishing the monstrosity that is Irish Water might have been better spent addressing that, especially given that the level of waste has risen to just over 50%. The disruption and leaks caused by the metering programme have not helped in that respect either.

It is also worthwhile reminding ourselves that €85 million has gone to consultancy firms, with another €5 million or thereabouts going to legal firms. Further hidden costs include repairs to leaks, which have fallen on local authorities. One might question who picked the consultants concerned, as they must surely be amongst the most incompetent available if Irish Water has been following their advice. Perhaps they should be asked for a refund.

It is estimated that metering will cost €540 million over three years. Some of this will come from the €240 million given by the Exchequer for capital works. Irish Water also received a €540 million loan from the National Pension Reserve Fund. All of this is taxpayers' money which could have been used for other purposes. That is best illustrated by the fact that Irish Water has received subventions of €490 million from local government funds. In effect, the entire proceeds of the local property tax, which went into the Local Government Fund, were handed over to Irish Water. When the local property tax was introduced, it was justified on the basis that it was needed, to quote the former Minister, Phil Hogan, to pay for parks, libraries and public lighting. Instead, however, it is being used to install badly designed water meters which will be used to charge people for a service they have already paid for through general taxation.

In effect, households are being penalised twice. First, the water charges must be paid, and second, local services are being run down so that Irish Water can have the means to install meters. In light of all that and the fact that almost €2 billion has so far been spent on the corporate monster that is Irish Water, surely the Government ought to cut its losses, abandon the metering programme, scrap water charges and invest whatever money remains towards the proper rehabilitation and reorganisation of a properly run public water service.

We were all gobsmacked to hear yesterday that not only is the monster unwieldy but we now have three boards governing its operation. It is important that we not go any further with this. Unfortunately, yesterday's drinking water remedial action list from the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, did not surprise us. In County Galway, for example, we have not seen any major improvement in our water systems, and if one asks the people of Ballinasloe, Ballyconneely, Carraroe, Glenamaddy, Inis Oírr, Kilkerrin-Moylough, Leenane, mid-Galway, Portumna and Williamstown if they are happy with Irish Water supplies, I do not believe they would be.