Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to present the Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016 to the Seanad. I look forward to our constructive debate on the Bill and on the delivery and funding of our public water services. The need for an informed, balanced and rational debate on the funding of domestic water services that is respectful of all positions is the context of this legislation on suspending domestic water charges for nine months. Quality public water supplies and the ongoing investment that this requires are critical for public health, social and economic development and environmental protection. We have important decisions to make in the coming nine months as to how we fund water services to meet these needs.

Before I outline the Bill's contents, it is important to remind the House of the legacy of underinvestment and diseconomies of scale that left us with so many problems with our public water and wastewater systems. When Irish Water assumed responsibility for water services in January 2014, 945,000 people were dependent on drinking water supplies that required remedial action. Data indicated that 49% of all water produced was lost in leakage. Dublin, our capital city, which should have had a spare capacity of 10% to 15% like most European capital cities, had a spare capacity of only 1% to 4%. Major drinking water schemes were in need of significant modernising and more than 44 urban areas throughout Ireland saw untreated sewage going into rivers and seas, posing a major risk to public health and the environment.

Put simply, we have these problems because we are guilty of having underinvested in water infrastructure and services for decades. That is a fact. The capital allocations for vital water and wastewater projects and upgrades competed with, and more often than not lost to, other more pressing and tangible investment requirements, such as those for roads, schools and hospitals. We had these problems because 34 local authorities provided services and infrastructure on a subnational basis, defined as they were by county boundaries and diseconomies of scale in procurement and network and asset management. These problems emerged despite the dedication, commitment and professionalism of local authority staff in often financially constrained circumstances. Most Senators have served on a county council at some stage and will recall the negotiations with neighbouring authorities on water and sewerage services at the county boundaries. It was lunacy.

A new approach was needed. For this reason, the previous Government established a single national utility to deliver water services and infrastructure, a utility that could plan and invest on a whole-of-asset and national basis funded by sustainable revenue sources so that Ireland would be able to meet the water challenges of an increasing population, a growing economy and a changing climate.

Since Irish Water became the national water utility in January 2014, it has made good progress in addressing some of the problems that I have outlined. By the end of 2015, Irish Water had delivered 20 new water treatment plants and 49 new wastewater treatment plants. Some 500 km of piping has been repaired or replaced. The number of people dependent on water supplies listed on the EPA's action list of works requiring remediation has reduced significantly. From 945,000 two years ago, it now stands at 804,000. Last year, through Irish Water and the local authority's work, 17,300 people in Roscommon no longer had to boil water coming out of their taps. Dublin's spare water capacity has increased to approximately 10%, a welcome move towards Irish Water's 15% target. If our capital city is to compete with other capitals in its offerings in tourism, jobs, investment and so on, it must have this capacity. We remember what happened during that one week a number of years ago when the supply dropped so low.

Through the more than 844,000 meters installed by the utility, Irish Water has been able to identify customer-side leakage and offer householders repairs under the first fix free repair scheme. By the end of March this year, approximately 48.5 million litres of water per day had been saved through this scheme and domestic customers' repairs arising from leakage detection through metering. This is the equivalent of the daily water needs of 150,000 homes. The largest leak identified through the first fix free scheme saw leakage at a property in Galway of 77,000 litres of water per day, enough to supply the daily requirement of 235 homes.

The metering programme has also been crucial in the identification of possible lead piping in householders' properties. Irish Water has written to approximately 34,000 households informing them of the likely presence of lead piping in their properties and provided them with customer advice on dealing with the issue, including public health advice from the HSE. This response would be much more difficult to achieve or co-ordinate if we did not have a single national utility.

Some of the progress that I have outlined arises from the innovation and national approach adopted by the public utility. However, increased investment is also critical. This year, Irish Water expects to invest €550 million in the network. This represents an 83% increase in investment on three years ago.

Having outlined the fundamental facts of why reform and greater investment are needed and the difference that reform is making, I will set out the steps that the Government will take to facilitate a comprehensive and deliberative process on the future funding of domestic water services. In parallel with the progression of this Bill through the Oireachtas, my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, established an expert commission to examine and make recommendations on the sustainable long-term funding model for the delivery of domestic water and wastewater services by Irish Water. The commission is chaired by the former chairperson of the Labour Court, Mr. Kevin Duffy, who has a distinguished track record of public service and will bring a wealth of experience in addressing complex issues. The other members of the commission were announced by the Minister on 29 June and comprise a number of international and national experts. The commission will be independent of the Government and supported by an independent secretariat through the Institute of Public Administration.

In line with the confidence and supply arrangement agreed between the Government and Fianna Fáil, the terms of reference require the commission to make recommendations on the funding of domestic water services and improvements in water quality, taking into account the maintenance and investment needs of the water and wastewater systems on short, medium and long-term bases, proposals on how the national utility in State ownership would be able to borrow to invest in water infrastructure, the need to encourage water conservation, including through reviewing information campaigns on water conservation in other countries, Ireland's domestic and international environmental standards and obligations, the role of the economic regulator, the Commission for Energy Regulation, and submissions from all interested parties. This expert commission will endeavour to report back within five months. A special Oireachtas committee on the funding of domestic water services will debate the commission's recommendations and endeavour to put its own recommendations before the Oireachtas, I understand within approximately three months. The Houses will then consider and decide on the future funding model. This process should take no longer than nine months from the end of June this year.

Notwithstanding our debate on the future of domestic water charges and the funding of same, we recognise the need to improve Irish Water's transparency and accountability, both to the Oireachtas and the public it serves. To achieve these objectives, it is the Government's intention to introduce legislation in the autumn to establish an external advisory body for Irish Water. The body will be tasked with publishing advice to the Government and giving quarterly reports to an Oireachtas committee on Irish Water's performance in the implementation of its business plan. The board will play an important role in enhancing public confidence in the utility and ensuring that it continues to deliver on its business plan and build trust.

Suspending charges will have implications for households that are not customers of Irish Water. In line with the supply and confidence arrangement, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, intends to restore State funding to group water schemes to pre-2015 levels for the nine-month period of suspension of domestic water charges. This will restore parity of approach towards group water scheme members and Irish Water customers. The Minister also intends to revise the grant levels to new group water schemes and the refurbishment of private wells.

This is a short Bill with the specific purpose of suspending domestic water charges to allow for the deliberative process that I have outlined to be undertaken. I will detail the sections of the Bill. Section 1 sets out the definitions fór terms used in the Bill.

Section 2 provides for the suspension of domestic water charges, except for connection charges, for a period of nine months, commencing on 1 July 2016. Irish Water cannot bill customers in the period of suspension of water charges. The section also provides for a prohibition on Irish Water billing domestic customers for water services used during quarter two of 2016, for which bills would be due now, until after the period of suspension.

The section also provides that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government can extend the nine-month period of suspension by way of ministerial order for a further period if an Oireachtas committee, established to examine the issue of funding of domestic public water services, informs him or her, or if he or she is otherwise satisfied, that it will not complete its work on or before 31 March 2017. In both cases the Minister must be satisfied that the extension is required solely to allow the committee to complete its work and the extension will only be for a period that he or she deems necessary to allow the work to be completed. The Minister may further extend the period of suspension, by order, to enable the Government to consider the recommendations of the said Oireachtas committee.

The section also provides that Irish Water shall not include the period of suspension of domestic water charges in calculating the time period of unpaid water charges, for which a late payment charge applies. I believe this to be a reasonable approach that will allow for the extensive deliberation process to be undertaken without further intervention.

Section 3 is a standard provision to provide for the Short Title of the Bill which is to be cited as the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2016.

The Bill is to suspend domestic water charges for a nine-month period to provide space for a reasoned debate on the future funding of public domestic water services. We need to use the opportunity to ensure questions on the source and investment requirements are answered once and for all. We need to use the time to have a genuine debate both in this House, on the airwaves and with the public to look at this issue and talk about it in a reasonable manner. We had this conservation in the Dáil when debating a motion earlier in the year. We must genuinely try to see if we can all put our best thoughts together on the issue to reach some agreement on what is best for the country. We all want the same ends. We demand high quality water services for all and that these services remain in public ownership. We all want a public water system that will sustain the economy and communities into the future. The Bill lends us an opportunity to debate openly and frankly how we will achieve these ends. I commend it to the House.