Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo le cuid de na rudaí atá ráite a cheartú. We are back to unpick some of the mess presided over by the previous speaker when, as a Minister of State, he sat in the chair currently occupied by the Minister. We raised many of the issues to which reference has been with him and the then Minister, Ireland's EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan.

I find it ironic that there have been several references to Galway and to political parties but it was people power on the streets that brought about this change in the legislation. We welcome much of the change those people brought about. They forced political parties, particularly Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, to make U-turns on many of the mistakes relating to the establishment of Irish Water. People were very angry when the guts of €1 million was spent on water meters to a company owned by Denis O'Brien, who must have made a very nice profit out of their installation.

Senator Coffey spoke about the blue flag beaches in Tramore and we all welcome those. What about the blue flag beaches in Spiddal and Carraroe where we still do not have a sewerage system? What about the delays in Inis Oírr and Oughterard where there are no sewerage systems? The Senator spoke about the outbreak of cryptosporidium in Galway city. Why did Irish Water not spend money on replacing the lead pipes there before the installation of water meters? It might have attracted more buy-in from people if that had happened. Why has it taken nearly two years to ask Irish Water to put a pipe underground in Connemara so that a road can be fixed? The county council and residents have been waiting for this for two years because the road is in rag order. That is why people have absolutely no faith in Irish Water. We brought all of this to the attention of Senator Coffey, the then Minister of State, and Phil Hogan, the then Minister and current EU Commissioner, at the time.

I agree with Senator Coffey's analysis of Fianna Fáil's legacy on water because it left a lot to be desired as regards investment in the water system. Táimid ar ais ag plé cúrsaí uisce arís, agus an tír ar fad ag smaoineamh gur socraíodh an cheist seo. Ní cheart go ndéanfaí dearmad gur tháinig deireadh leis na táillí uisce ionas go dtabharfadh Fianna Fáil tacaíocht don Rialtas seo sa chéad áit. Tá tacaíocht Fhianna Fáil fite fuaite leis an gceist seo. Níl aon fhoráil sa Bhille seo nár thug Fianna Fáil cead dó. Má tá rud ar bith in easnamh ón mBille seo, is mar gheall nach raibh Fianna Fáil ag iarraidh é a áireamh ós rud é nach raibh sé tábhachtach go leor dóibh. Is é ceann de na ceisteanna seo an tacaíocht a thugtar do na scéimeanna grúpaí uisce, ar a bhfuil go leor cainte faoi láthair.

Here we are again discussing water charges, a matter the public thought had been resolved. We should not need to have this debate. Water charges and metering should never have been introduced. Fianna Fáil's deal with the troika led to the establishment of the charging regime, which has now proved to be a massive waste of time and money. It was never a question of conservation but of privatisation. It was never a question of investment but, rather, one of commodification. Water is essential to life. Whenever that commodity has a price attached to it, there will be people who will be well able to pay and those who will not. Water inequality impacts on the most basic of human functions and is wrong. Even though the Government claimed that it never intended to privatise Irish Water, the evidence from all other countries is that privatisation creeps in. Once it is in the hands of companies with shareholders and directors the customers become secondary. We have only to look at England where competing water companies deliver poor quality and bad service to customers.

I commend the Right2water campaign and all those citizens, which ultimately defeated these charges. It was a campaign that saw mass participation, including by many who would rarely have been seen protesting on such an issue before. This strengthens the argument of Sinn Féin and others that water is exceptional.If one commodifies or privatises such a basic necessity, one leaves citizens at the mercy of market forces and private capital, which have scant regard for human need.

As far as the Bill itself goes, I will point out a major omission. Fianna Fáil, in the Special Committee on the Future Funding of Water, was at pains to stress the inequality regarding rural water group and private schemes. I heard Senator Murnane O'Connor on that song again today. I agree completely. If there is no standing charge for people accessing domestic water services for their homes in urban Ireland, there should be no standing charge for those in rural Ireland. Where additional costs are incurred regarding the installation and maintenance of private or group water schemes, that should be covered. Níl rud ar bith sa Bhille seo maidir leis na scéimeanna tuaithe. Sin mar gheall ar fhaillí Fhianna Fáil. Is éard atá i gceist ná gur cuma leis faoi na daoine atá ar na scéimeanna seo nó gur ghéill sé roimh fhathaigh mhóra Fhine Gael. Is cur i gcéill é le rá gur bua ar son an phobail an Bille seo.

There are significant areas which remain unclear. With regard to an allowance for households of five or more, where does that leave the four-person household, which is particularly disadvantaged under the proposal? It also creates perverse incentives for the one-person household, which will have the same allowance as two, three and four-person households. Nor do we know if the excessive usage is a charge or a penalty. If it is a metric charge based on how much is used then it is a charge not a fine. It does not take a genius to figure out why my colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, tabled an amendment in the Dáil seeking to have this Bill renamed "the water charges by the back door" Bill.

If there is to be a charge for those households excessively using water, which Fianna Fáil claims will be only a tiny fraction of households, what of those that have no meter? One could end up with a house on a street with a meter being charged for excess use based on that meter's reading while another house on the same street with no meter is subject to an estimation which could greatly under or overestimate their excess use. I am glad that the money set aside for metering has now been diverted. I am pointing out the stupidity of the metering process in the first place, as we did when debating these issues ad nauseamwith the former Ministers, Senator Paudie Coffey and Commissioner Phil Hogan. The percentage threshold above which excessive usage kicks in can only be reduced by the Oireachtas. If we reduce this ratio, more people will be liable for excessive usage. The ratio could be reduced so low so as to include everyone who would have been liable for charges ion the first place. An é seo an bua a bhain Fianna Fáil amach ar son an phobail?

There is no detail on how to assist families to reduce leaks because nobody knows whether the idea that 8% of households are using 30% of water is because of excessive leaks in the piping system, excessive use, wilful use, large family size or other reasons. There is no additional support after the first-fix facility to assist those families. If we allow this legislation to pass, the infrastructure for domestic metered water charges, and all of the negative consequences that come with that-----