2025-03-20

13. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will rule out any return of water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12727/25]

Ba mhaith liom gach rath a ghuí ar an Aire, an Teachta Browne agus an Aire Stáit, an Teachta O’Sullivan. I wish the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, well in their new briefs. In the programme for Government, there is no mention of water charges. However, there was an article in the Irish Independent last week and then a furore was created by the Opposition on social media to the effect that there was in some way an attempt to facilitate the return of water charges. Will the Minister rule out any return of water charges?

I thank the Deputy for tabling this important question. I will address some of the issues that have arisen. The Government decided in 2017 that water charges would not be levied on domestic customers and that the funding of domestic water services would instead be met through general taxation and paid through my Department's Vote. This position remains unchanged. There is a provision for charging for excess use of domestic water services contained within the Water Services Act 2017. This provision is known as the household water conservation charge. It reflects the recommendations made in 2017 by the Joint Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services and the previous programme for Government commitment to implementing these recommendations. The rationale behind the household water conservation charge was to encourage water conservation. It was not intended as a revenue measure. No further work is being done on this issue. This measure is not in the current programme for Government. as the Deputy rightly pointed out, and there are no plans to introduce it.

That is reassuring. The Opposition spokesperson on housing blew this up on social media, saying that the Government was trying to sneak this in by the back door. The Minister confirmed in the media - he has done so again now - that there is no attempt to reintroduce water charges. It is incredulous that there was an attempt to construe that there was going to be a return to water charges. It is clear that there is no attempt on the Government's part to introduce water charges. This Government has listened to the people. Water charges are not mentioned in the programme for Government.

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to reiterate the Government's position on it. I reiterate that there is no work being done on this issue. The measure is not in the current programme for Government. There are no plans to introduce it. We will not be taking any further action in relation to it.

There is a wider conversation to be had about excess water usage in society. By and large, households are responsible when it comes to use of water. It is great that the Government is committed to not reintroducing any type of water charges or introducing water charges for excess use.

While this discussion is going on, the people of Lismore in County Waterford are without water again today. This will be the seventh time in recent months that the entire town of Lismore has been without water. Outages are becoming more frequent. They last 24 hours or more in many cases. They are impacting local businesses, families and a care home. One of the largest secondary schools in County Waterford has been closed on several occasions because of water outages. These outages are also impacting childcare facilities. A delegation from Lismore has requested meetings with Uisce Éireann. Is the Minister willing to meet with a delegation of townspeople from Lismore to discuss this issue in the interests of ensuring that the town is prioritised. We have all this talk of water charges, excess use and wastage at a time when we have a system that is not fit for purpose, with Victorian pipes and a lack of capacity. Will the Minister meet with a representative delegation of people from Lismore to discuss this issue?

I wish to inform the Minister and the other Deputies talking about excess water usage that water in Cork is undrinkable. Some of the time, it is not fit for human consumption. In Gurranabraher, the area in which I live, test data is coming back stating that the levels of manganese are so high that the water is unfit for human consumption. Still, we cannot get a "do not consume" notice from Irish Water. The HSE is washing its hands of the matter and the EPA is running for cover. Right now, there are water charges in Cork, because people are spending between €20 and €30 per week on water. Does the Minister know that manganese can have a devastating effect on young children's neurological development? That is what the people of Cork are drinking. Many people do not have the money to buy water, and that is what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have given to us. Cork City Council was to meet with Irish Water, the HSE and the EPA yesterday. The meeting was cancelled because Uisce Éireann will not come to city hall to answer questions. For two and a half years, we have had dirty and unsafe water in the second city in this State. The Deputy is coming in here talking about water charges. For five years, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have stopped-----

Do not shout at me, Deputy.

Come on Deputy, you are way over time.

Where in the programme for Government is a referendum on water-----

Cathaoirleach, he is way over time.

Deputy, sit down. Thank you.

-----to protect the people.

Let us stick to the initial topic.

I welcome the new Deputy's strong opposition to the introduction of this unjustified charge. I just want to let him know that in a matter of weeks we will table legislation - to be debated in this House - to remove Part 2 of the Water Services Act 2017 to ensure that neither this nor a future Government can introduce such a charge. I very much look forward to the Deputy's and the Minister's strong support for removing that Part from the original legislation. We simply do not trust his Government on this issue. However, if the Deputy puts his money where his mouth is when we introduce the Bill and votes for it, we might take a different view on the matter.

Hear, hear.

We are dealing with major infrastructural issues with regard to Uisce Éireann. There are housing developments in respect of which there are plans to put in initial water treatment schemes on the basis that there is not capacity in the rest of the system. In the part of Dundalk I live in, we have an issue in removing wastewater. We have had near flooding incidents on multiple occasions. We have had a long-term issue with brown water and manganese reacting with chlorine. Pilot schemes are in operation and seem to be successful, but we need to see all this working as soon as possible. I concur with Deputy Ó Broin and welcome the fact that there seems to be opposition across the board at this stage regarding the return of water charges, because they are not the solution. A major part of that has been the reaction of the public over the past while. That is what will determine that there will be no return of water charges. We would like absolute support for Deputy Ó Broin's legislation.

There will not be any return. That has always been clear. There was a proposal by the previous Government to bring in water conservation charges. It is noticeable that Sinn Féin did not table a Bill to change the legislation during the previous Government's term of office. It has now put forward a Bill that has made the front page of a newspaper. It is interesting that when it was proposed to do this, Sinn Féin did not have any particular legislative proposals to stop it.

We voted against the Government legislation.

On Lismore, I do not have the information to hand. I will certainly raise the matter with Uisce Éireann, however. If the Deputy sends me the details, we will follow up on that. Of course, I am sure the situation in Cork is always kept under review by Uisce Éireann. However, I will again raise that matter with Uisce Éireann.