Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Indeed, it was much higher than the current charges. Charging for domestic water was seen as new departure here but is not new in other EU countries. Furthermore, it was not a new departure in rural Ireland, where farmers, business people and others have paid for their water for many years. Do we want those in rural Ireland to bear the brunt of the charges for water, while letting their urban counterparts away with paying nothing? The water charges here are the lowest in Europe by a large margin.

By 2021, Irish Water will have invested €5.5 billion to bring our water services up to an acceptable standard. It will reduce leakages to 38%, saving 180 million litres of water every day. At the moment, this treated water is going down the Suwannee. It will also stop all pumping of raw sewage into our rivers and surrounding seas. It will cut costs by €1.8 billion; already Irish Water has reduced costs by 14%. One third of these costs reductions will be in the payroll area. I have already referred to the situation regarding boil water notices and to the new treatment plants. Irish Water has also produced a plan to deal with lead pipes all over the country which is essential in terms of human health. It has repaired or replaced over 750 km of pipe work, which is saving 32 million litres of water every day.

The proposal before us denies the progress that has been made to date and fails to establish an alternative model for our water services. It loads the costs onto our citizens who are already paying for water. Many of those who have proposed the motion are from rural constituencies but the farmers in those constituencies would not like to continue to pay for water while urban dwellers pay nothing. I accept that the public relations around Irish Water could have been handled better. However, people are now beginning to realise that Irish Water is working well. I do not know when those in Fianna Fáil changed their minds on this issue because they previously agreed with the troika that setting up a single utility was a good idea-----