Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

However, it is only fair that we be clear with the public, including the many people to whom Fianna Fáil made a range of promises in the run-up to the general election, that there is merely a suspension of water charges from April to December. It is one of the results of the cosy-up deal between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, known as the confidence and supply deal. It should be renamed the supplicate and comply deal from Fine Gael's point of view.

We are told bin charges will be suspended for one year, that water charges have been suspended for one year and that Fianna Fáil will be happy to support legislation on banded hours contracts in a year’s time. It seems to be the party for next year. From my experience around the country but particularly in west Galway and south Mayo, I know that people simply cannot wait for a year. They are wracked by uncertainty. This is not fair on those who want to plan for the future. The reality is that Fianna Fáil does not care about people’s futures. It only cares about doing the bare minimum to get it over the line in the next general election. On the issue of water charges it has changed its position so many times that it is hard to keep track.

The reason we are discussing this Bill today is not the new politics or the practical or pragmatic implementation of the manifestos of the Government parties of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael but that in recent years hundreds of thousands of people have marched, boycotted and voted on this issue. They forced Fianna Fáil, in particular, from its position of supporting the creation of Irish Water and introducing water charges to its current fudge position which still confuses me every time I hear its members speak about the matter. It should be clear to Seanadóirí on all sides of the House that there is still this movement which is watching carefully what is happening in this House today and will continue to do so. There will be a huge electoral cost for any politician who in the last general election advocated the abolition of Irish Water and water charges and who breaks his or her word when these issues are finally voted on in the Houses.

The most recent Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael deal involved the proposed suspension, for 12 months, of the pay-by-weight waste disposal system. There was utter chaos in my area of Connemara where people were forced to sign up to contracts with the local waste company. Some of them were good responsible recyclers who only needed a bag or a tag on the odd occasion. I welcome the climbdown on the issue and the Minister's eleventh hour intervention when put under pressure in the House to do so. It was only after pressure was exerted by me and my colleagues in Sinn Féin and others in the community that the Government finally listened. It took Fianna Fáil Members quite a while to make up their minds on the matter also. They considered they could not support our motion to repeal the statutory instrument and end the pay-by-weight system. However, they changed their tune when they saw pressure being exerted in communities.

I take the opportunity to clarify Sinn Féin’s position on water charges. I want to do this because the debate on the Bill in the Dáil was replete with the usual formulaic nonsense from Fianna Fáil about our position on taxing water services. Mr. Chris Hazzard, the Sinn Féin Minister for Infrastructure, has suspended the installation of water meters across the Six Counties. Before him Mr. Conor Murphy, as Regional Development Minister, ruled out water charges and totally stopped their imposition. He also blocked any move to privatise water supply provision. We want an end to domestic water charges. We want public ownership of water and waste services enshrined in the Constitution. We want water services to be delivered by a democratic and accountable public body. We want water to be supplied on the basis of need, not the ability to pay. We will not rest until these objectives are achieved.The alternative to the failed water policy of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party has been outlined by the Right2Water movement: provide water on the basis of need, not ability to pay; fund it through general taxation; deliver it through a democratically accountable and transparent body working with the river basin management groups and local authorities; focus investment in the first instance on reducing the more than 40% wastage in the system; implement an ambitious capital programme to upgrade our water and sewerage system; meet the broad objectives of the Water Framework Directive; and, crucially, remain the only OECD country with zero water poverty.

I agree with the Minister of State on the issues surrounding the transparency of Irish Water. We have had a boil water notice in Carraroe in Connemara for the past while. We finally hear, after much pressure, that Irish Water is carrying out an upgrade to the system there but we have asked for months for detailed information on what upgrade it is carrying out in the plant there but it has refused to give it to us. If the Minister of State speaks to somebody in Irish Water, he might ask him or her to tell us finally what exact type of upgrade it is carrying out to the system in Carraroe so we can check that it is future-proofed.

There are also very small issues that make people very angry. There is an area in Connemara, a village called Teach Mór, where the local council wanted to do up the road. It cannot do so until Irish Water buries a water pipe. This has been ongoing for a year and Irish Water will not tell us when it will do it. When there are things like that happening with Irish Water and when it will not give us basic information and do such small jobs on the ground, people have very little faith in the company.

We have concerns about the terms of reference of the commission in this Bill. References to conservation in the terms of reference are minimal. This is not a comprehensive commission to consider the future of water and sanitation services. It is simply a ruse designed to deliver a predetermined outcome, and the resignation of Joe O'Toole showed that up. Sinn Féin's view, as I am sure the Minister of State knows, is that these terms of reference should be expanded and the commission should be tasked to consider the funding and delivery of all water and sanitation services. It should be asked to examine issues of water poverty and poverty-proof any proposals it makes to the Oireachtas. It should have a greater remit for outlining recommendations for water conservation. It should have an input from professionals with regulatory, operational, management and environmental expertise from water and other utilities. It should have economic and academic expertise, expertise on workers' rights and consumer interest as well as anti-poverty advocacy and policy expertise.

Nuair a cuireadh na táillí uisce orainn ar dtús, bhí an Rialtas ag maíomh go ndéanfaí an soláthar uisce a chosaint agus a chaomhnú, ach ní fheicim mórán tagairtí do sin sa Bhille atá romhainn. Táimid ag tacú leis an mBille seo, ar an mórchuid, ach beimid ag breathnú go géar ar an méid a bheidh ag teacht ag deireadh na tréimhse fionraí agus cuirfimid ár bpolasaí féin - sé sin, go bhfuil sé de cheart ag daoine soláthar uisce a bheith acu - chun cinn i gcónaí. Beimid ag díriú ar na geallúintí a rinne Fianna Fáil roimh an toghchán seo caite. Níl sé féaráilte ar dhaoine nuair a deirtear rud amháin leo le linn aimsir an toghcháin, ach déantar rud eile ar fad ina dhiaidh sin.

I have been getting reports on the ground in the past two weeks that the water meter fairies have reappeared in Connemara, installing water meters. I think the people of Connemara, in particular, would much prefer them to fix the holes in the pipes, bury the pipes, do the remedial works that need to be done, etc., before they come back to put in the water meters. The Minister of State might also raise that issue with the people in Irish Water with whom he is dealing. I know we had clinics here on a regular basis but they were a joke. Senior executives from Irish Water would come in and we would ask questions of them. They would take plenty of notes and a very well paid PR executive would send us back an answer that they were looking into the issue but really when it came down to the nitty-gritty and the substantial answers that we were looking for, we did not get them. It is simply not good enough, especially when nearly €1 billion has been spent on this company since it was set up.