Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire ar ais go dtí an Seanad. Regarding metering, the lifespan of meters and why it is important to have them installed, most meters are expected to last considerably longer than the manufacturer's 15-year design life rating for the product. Experience in the UK has shown that meters installed more than 20 years ago are still operating. I could take the Minister of State to meters that had been installed more than 40 years ago.

I could take him to ten or 15 houses tomorrow where the installed meters are still recording. The only changes that were required were in households that wanted a bigger input of electricity. It will be the same with water metering. It is by far the fairest approach.

I am concerned over the budget for the maintenance of meters, which I read recently will amount to €5 million per annum out of a total operational budget of €800 million per annum. The maintenance budget is not a significant amount. A national school in my home town, Carlingford, is seeking grant aid of €15,000 to do a specific job. From my experience in the ESB, for which the Minister of State worked for a significant period, I will not say maintenance was a licence to print money but I know what was involved in the maintenance of meters and how often they became faulty or needed to be changed. Irrespective of the case, the repair was free of charge to the customer. I hope that will be the case with any meters that become faulty under the new water metering system. It is the fairest form of domestic water charging. This has already been said by Senator Mullins and it recognised by many, including the OECD.

Metering helps householders to monitor their water usage and Irish Water to measure how much water is used. Metering also helps Irish Water to identify customer side leakage, which accounts for approximately one tenth of the national leakage rate. Some 49% of all water in the system is leaked. The leaks are being identified daily. If we are doing nothing with metering in the interim, we are identifying leaks on a daily basis.

The metering programme is most ambitious in terms of its speed and scale, with almost 700,000 meters having been installed by the end of 2014. We should not forget metering is sustaining approximately 1,300 jobs, as stated by other Senators. The Government has established a single national utility to deliver water services and upgrade the water and wastewater networks, an approach that is more effective than having 31 local authorities providing the same service. With Government subvention, revenue from domestic and non-domestic water charges and an ability to borrow from international capital markets, Irish Water will be able to make the necessary increase in investment. This was done in the company that the Minister of State worked for, the ESB, in the early 1990s when it took on a significant maintenance programme that was required for networks that had been erected 40 or 50 years previously. One can make an analogy between the water system and the electricity system. After 40 or 50 years, major investment is required, and this should be stated. Investment is needed urgently to upgrade the water and wastewater network.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water Report 2013, published recently, underlines the need for increased investment in the public water system. The report states that more than 23,000 people, on 20 public supplies, are subject to boil water notices. This is totally unacceptable in 2015. It has been mentioned that 121 supplies out of approximately 1,000 on the Environmental Protection Agency's remedial action list are at risk, affecting almost 950,000 people. My goodness.

There is a need for improvements in the disinfection of water, and there is a need for better management of water treatment and further water quality improvements due to more stringent requirements relating to lead. There is a need for Irish Water to remove the present boil water notices and implement a national lead strategy immediately. Other deficiencies in the water and wastewater system show why we need to increase investment. The deficiencies include inadequate wastewater treatment. The Minister of State will be aware that there are many treatment plants that have never been maintained. No money was ever allocated to maintain the plants in many local authority areas. This is unbelievable and unacceptable in 2015. Without action, an unacceptable number of people will have a water supply at risk from falling standards and the country will continue to have inadequate water supply capacity. Towns and villages will continue to have inadequate wastewater capacity, thus polluting rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Our economy needs improved water services and greater security of water supply.

The town I come from, Carlingford, once had a medieval sewerage system, with sewage flowing daily into the town's natural harbour. I am thankful that has ceased. The benefits accruing, such as tourism and water sports in the same harbour, are to be commended. I am absolutely delighted with this. This is as it should be in all harbours and river estuaries throughout the country.