Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have always said - and we are absolutely consistent in all of this - we would never tell anyone to pay a bill or not to pay a bill. We have always said that people should decide for themselves. We have faith in the capacity of individual human beings to make decisions around whether they pay bills. Indeed, we would not have the responsibility of someone not paying a bill and subsequently incurring interest charges or anything else. It would be an irresponsible stance to tell someone not to pay a bill, in the same way as I would not expect anyone to tell me not to pay a bill. I am glad to have the opportunity to clear that up.

The problem is that people are not paying for water when they are paying water charges. They are paying for the likes of what happened around Siteserv and the deals that were done. This is the problem people have with it. We know 50% of water is being wasted. People are refusing to pay for poisonous lead pipes that have not been fixed. Those pipes were not fixed during the boom when the country was awash with money and when so many things were being done to sort out bonuses and jobs for the boys and extra money here, there and everywhere. Instead of investing that money in water services, it was used to line the pockets of people in the golden circle and people around that circle. It is as plain as that. Irish people are not stupid and they see that. Therefore, when they are told that they have to pay for water, that is what they see.

My party believes that water is a basic human right. I am one of the people Senator Humphreys referred to. I have paid for water delivered through a water scheme all my life and I do not have a problem with that. I do not have a problem with that because I know every cent I pay goes into a local community group. Every cent is used to produce water of better quality. We have control over the quality of that water. I do not have to pay for vast bonuses for anyone and I do not have to pay for anything else. In other words, it is targeted at the water. Anyway, I thank the Senator for considering me in all of this.

I wish to discuss what is being done at the moment with the sewerage schemes, because sometimes when we talk about water we think only of drinking water. Sewerage schemes are being developed at the moment throughout Mayo. Let us consider the Belmullet sewerage scheme, for which we have waited 40 years. It is finally being delivered because of an imposition from Europe to the effect that we must have a sewerage scheme. The original cost of the sewerage scheme was predicted to be €13.5 million. The cost is now down to approximately €7 million. The capacity of the treatment plant has been reduced to the extent that we cannot now attract new industries to the area. I call on the Minister of State to seriously consider this in the context of the network and collective responsibility.

Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael must take responsibility for creating the monster of Irish Water. They cannot hide behind Europe or European directives. They have to take responsibility. The people are not stupid when it comes to water. That is why hundreds of thousands come out onto the streets. It is not that they do not want to pay for things. They do not mind paying for the things they get, but they will not be paying for the nonsense of Irish Water.