Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In eight minutes I will not touch on all that I want to say. As the Minister of State has said, the legislation is wide and diverse. I welcome her to the House to take this Bill. This legislation covers parks, water, waste, finance, air pollution, dogs, landlords and housing, and I will not comment on them all. The outstanding issues had to be dealt with and they were flagged by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government back in May. The Minister of State also flagged them in a speech in the Dáil but I know she did not have the detail at that time.

The legislation gives effect to measures designed to recover unpaid water charges relating to domestic property, including privately owned accommodation, occupied private rented accommodation, local authority rented accommodation, and housing authority and housing agency accommodation. The Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill will be brought to the House shortly. It will provide a legislative basis for those measures by implementing a number of the reforms that were recommended by the Law Reform Commission. One does not set up a commission and just ignore it. Many of the recommendations on fine collection were recommended by the Law Reform Commission. In terms of enforcement and recovery of debt, when one decides to implement laws, one needs to have the wherewithal to ensure they are implemented. If one thinks locking people up in prison for not paying a fine is the way to go about it, that is not good and is not a good policy. There is a revolving door syndrome in prisons which everybody in this House has criticised. I worry that if everybody who has not paid a fine is locked up, serious criminals will be left to walk the streets. The Government is changing the current situation and is making space in prisons for the people who should be incarcerated and not for the people who should not be incarcerated.

In terms of registration with Irish Water, there will be a mandatory requirement that will make deductions for unpaid water charges. I will not go into all the details of the Minister of State's presentation. An amendment of the Waste Management Act 1996 will provide for a change in the legislation. Throughout this country we have seen how waste legislation has been flouted by various bodies. In Part 7 of this Bill there is an amendment to the Waste Management Act 1996. The new proposals will emphasise the polluter pays principle. They will also provide clear incentives and obligations for households and waste collectors. The proposals will strengthen the regulatory bodies such as the National Waste Collection Permit Office to tackle very poor performance by waste collectors. We have all spoken about poor performance in different areas in order that people should realise we must find a way to tackle it. Every day we hear people ask for measures to tackle poor performance and they also ask us how we will ensure certain things do not happen. The new provision will be of major benefit to the consumer. It will simplify pricing structures and will enable customers to compare and contrast more easily the cost of different waste lorries, waste companies and household waste collection services. Most important, it will provide an effective means of enforcing those obligations.

The Bill will also set up a database. Councils will have more information on who is dumping what, where, when and how, which will leave household collectors more responsible as a result. We also seek a sustainable environment and want to keep the environment clean for our children and future generations. There is no point in saying we are in favour of environmental preservation if we close our eyes to the dumping that is taking place in the countryside and we do not know what is dumped where, when or how. We need to know who is recycling, availing of bring banks and who is composting. We are great in Ireland for making laws but this Bill is one of the ways to ensure we implement the laws as well.

Section 23A, inserted by section 47 of the Bill, refers to the mandatory obligation on the owner of a dwelling to provide details of who is registered as a customer of Irish Water. One of the previous speakers said that every landlord should pay the water charge for every person renting. Such an initiative would not reflect the polluter pays principal. It would mean the landlord would be responsible for everything but the polluter would be responsible for nothing. Deducting charges from the proceeds of the sale of a dwelling, as the case may be, is another way. One can get at landlords in this way and ensure they fulfil their responsibility that whoever they have in their houses are responsible and environmentally friendly people. This is a small ask. The landlord must maintain his roof and everything else.

The water conservation grant database will make people responsible and accountable. When one gives a grant, it is like throwing money up in the air and hoping somebody will catch it. One simply would not know who would receive the grant. The Bill provides for the establishment of a nationwide database of water services to dwellings from 2016 onwards.

Domestic water usage per capitain Ireland is among the highest in Europe. All European countries have water charges. As well as making economic sense, the driving force behind the introduction of water charges is the legal obligation to recover the cost of all water services under article 9(1) of the EU water framework directive. Since 2000, Ireland is under a legal obligation to implement properly cost recovery measures for a wide range of water services and uses, including domestic water services. The real issue is one the Bill is addressing - how to collect water and the introduction of the polluter pays principle. The EU directive requires cost recovery on a polluter pays basis. It is all very well linking it to motor tax but in terms of the polluter pays principle, while the car is a polluter in itself, one must distinguish between types of pollution, and financing is one aspect in this regard. I am my party's spokesperson on the environment but we are all here today to discuss the environment. The public has a right to a good environment and a safe and reliable supply of drinking water. Last week alone, 11,000 people in Roscommon had clean water for the first time in years. They paid for and bought more expensive bottled water. As many as 21,000 people in Roscommon now have clean water. It involves people paying. In the countryside there are people who have paid for water all their lives and I say that as a country person myself.

In terms of septic tanks, the water harvesting grant will help people to ensure they invest in water conservation measures. It will help people who have contaminated water to get clean water, be it through investing in water harvesting devices or devices that use ultraviolet rays to get rid of bacteria. All those devices are available to people.We have to help people whom we have not helped before. Many people who live in the cities say we have clean water but I am afraid that there are many people who do not have clean water. We have to also ensure there is water conservation and cleanliness.

Leaks are another issue that has been well discussed in this debate. The Minister has stated time and again that the charge will distinguish between those who are willing to pay and those who cannot pay, as opposed to just people who refuse to pay. It was important for the Minister to say this.There is the potential to avail of easy option pay plans which are being availed of.

I will skip the part on the Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill and could say a good deal more about waste, but I will leave the matter of the transfer of finance to the Minister of State.

There is scaremongering on the issue of public versus private ownership. The Government has consistently stated the body with responsibility for the supply of water will remain in public ownership. This is provided for in legislation and will not be changed. It cannot be changed without a plebiscite of the people. Therefore, I do not want to hear the issue being mentioned again. Let us be honest and say it has been legislated for. Certain policies and philosophies are being pursued by many, but we need to think about the environment.

I do not have time to go into all of the details on the Environmental Protection Agency. It is, however, an important issue which I hope we will get to debate on another day.