Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá an-áthas orm tacú leis on mBille seo. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group in the Seanad, I am pleased to welcome and support this Bill. It is an important piece of legislation.

The Bill provides for Irish Water to be separated from Ervia and to allow it to act as a stand-alone national authority for water services. This develops on the commitment in the programme for Government to retain Irish Water in public ownership - something that my party has campaigned for and is committed to - and to retain it as a national stand-alone regulated public utility. The Bill ensures that any acts carried out will be in the best public interest.

We all recognise that water is an essential public service and, as such, retaining it within public control is of the utmost importance, not only to my party but to all parties in the House and to the general public. From my party's perspective, this builds on our commitment as a party to improve water services. We, obviously, supported the €6 billion in funding that has been committed to in the national development plan for water services.

It is important to note as well and to pay tribute to all those who are delivering water services that the lowest level of vulnerable water supply connections was recorded in February of this year. That is some achievement. All those involved in the delivery of water services are to be commended, particularly if one considers we are coming out of two years of a pandemic.

Separating Irish Water from Ervia is in the best strategic interests of both water services and gas networks businesses. It should allow for full transparency and accountability of our water services. I welcome the indication from the Minister of State that the separation will be achieved early next year and that the Government is working to achieve that. I hope the House can facilitate the passing of the legislation. I also acknowledge the strong co-operation that was provided in the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for the scrutiny of the legislation and the work that was done by that committee, by the Chair and all of the secretariat - it provides an invaluable service to us.

Uisce Éireann will stand accountable and will take full responsibility for the delivery of public water services. I particularly like the fact that we will have one accountable public utility and Uisce Éireann is a very appropriate name for it. Uisce Éireann, in turn, will be accountable to the Oireachtas. It will be accountable to the Committee of Public Accounts. The Oireachtas will ensure, through the Committee of Public Accounts, that Uisce Éireann delivers customer-centred and user-focused services and will also ensure that there is value for money for taxpayers. As such, Uisce Éireann will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and it will have to present its accounts to the Minister, who will lay them before both Houses of the Oireachtas. This gives both Houses of the Oireachtas the opportunity to scrutinise the performance of Uisce Éireann and to hold it to account. These are welcome developments, and absolutely appropriate for a public utility.

Government will appoint, through the Minister, the board and directors. That will be done through the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage but there will also be consent required from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Minister will have the ability to remove a director if that director is either incapable due to ill-health or engages in behaviour which is inappropriate for a director of such an important public utility.

The directors will have a limit of two years. That is a good idea. It promotes fresh ideas. It promotes enthusiasm and energy around the role of being a director.

Given that there will be a transfer of staff, it is important that we do not lose that institutional experience and knowledge. When I talk about staff, I want to acknowledge, from the city of Dublin, Dublin City Council's staff. I was a city councillor when Irish Water was set up. I must admit in this House that I opposed it vehemently. I had very serious questions about the transfer of the assets from the local authority. There have been issues around the delivery and quality of waters services. Places come to mind for me, such as Cabra, and the water pressure within my own constituency but I would not let today's debate go by without giving credit to all of the staff, not only of my own local authority in Dublin but of all local authorities who have provided excellent service down through the decades.

An important aspect of the Bill that others may not have noticed is that the Bill is quite progressive in that it requires gender parity in terms of the make-up of the organisation and the board. It is welcome that the Minister under this legislation, in so far as is practicable, will endeavour to ensure that among the directors of Uisce Éireann there is an equitable balance between men and women. That is a welcome development. It is one that I would like to see replicated in any future public bodies being established by either this Government or other Governments.

This Bill sets out a path of accountability and transparency for Uisce Éireann. Critically, it keeps it in public ownership. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, mentioned in his speech that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage intends bringing a memorandum to Government with recommendations around a referendum on water and also a referendum on the right to housing. The Minister of State has been in the House when we debated the referendum on housing and it is a matter that I and my party are committed to. I am delighted to hear that the Minister feels he will be in a position to bring memorandums to Government on both of these issues before the end of this year. That is welcome. We, at least my party, look forward to the Government approving those memorandums, moving forward and bringing these two important questions to the people of Ireland.