It’s time that we, as a nation, had a mature and sensible discussion about Irish Water. Let’s face it, we certainly haven’t had one in the past week.
Nobody, so far, has covered themselves in glory. That includes our elected representatives and, with a couple of notable exceptions, the media.
It is quite frankly bizarre that, even though we are facing a serious housing and homeless problem — with families forced to live in hotel rooms — and have a health service that routinely teeters on the brink of crisis, the most important post-election issue is a €160 yearly charge for water.
Simon Coveney’s clumsy intervention this week did not help, but it was blown out of all proportion by a media looking to fill the post-results news void. Fianna Fail’s stance on the issue has somewhat undermined the wholly sensible comments Micheál Martin has made on the need for political reform. Mr Martin was right to eventually row back on suggestions from some Fianna Fail TDs that water charges were a red line issue for his party in talks about government formation.
As was pointed out on this very page on Thursday, the idea that the abolition of water charges and Irish Water is some sort of panacea for all our problems is hugely simplistic. After all, as this newspaper also reported last week, it is probable that any government would be unable to opt out of water charges as it would be in breach of Article 9 of the EU Water Directive and could result in substantial fines from the European Commission.
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A Fianna Fail spokesman said that the party would be seeking a derogation from this law, but legal experts believe this may not be possible. The rules state that once a country has introduced a water charge it cannot go back.
Instead of having a debate about a potential outcome that may not even be legally possible, we should be discussing how to maintain a fair system of affordable charges for all or how to start structuring the payment system so conserving water is rewarded, again in a fair and affordable way for all.
In the meantime various politicians have been giving mixed messages or, worse still, advising people not to pay their charges. Did nobody else find it odd that having been re-elected as a lawmaker, Shane Ross, the independent TD for Dublin Rathdown, started his new Dail term by advising people to break the law by not paying their charges? These are charges, don’t forget, that were introduced by a democratically elected government and which have already been paid by about 60 per cent of those who were billed.
Such is the level of misleading information about this issue that Leo Varadkar, the health minister, had to spell out once again yesterday that Fine Gael would not be abolishing water charges.
Those advocating the idea of scrapping Irish Water have, in the main, been given an easy ride by the media. We live in a democracy and they have a right to hold those views. Some TDs were elected precisely because they do, but, if we are to reach a sensible, reasoned conclusion to the debate, it is important that their assumptions are challenged and discussed.
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Those advocating the abolition of Irish Water need to be asked the key questions. What would the cost of abolition be? “We don’t know” is not an acceptable answer. What would happen to the staff of Irish Water? Are redundancies acceptable? How would any redundancies be funded? What impact would it have on the budget deficit if the funding for water infrastructure came on to the state books and what effect would that have on spending on other key services?
How could the abolitionists ensure that in tight economic times spending on vital water infrastructure isn’t sacrificed — as happened repeatedly over the decades? If they believe that water is a human right, why weren’t they raising the looming crisis in water provision brought about by dire infrastructure and chronic leaks before charges were introduced?
What about conservation? One anti-water charges activist claimed on radio this week that there was no proven link between metering and reduced water consumption. That is simply not true and should not have gone unchallenged. Water consumption plunged by 19 million litres a day when meters were introduced in 2014. When the government backtracked and reverted to a fixed charge, consumption returned to previous levels.
If water charges are to be scrapped, isn’t it only fair that those on group water schemes and businesses should also be freed from their “tyranny”? Why has every other country in the OECD got a water utility? Are they credibly arguing that the local authorities can develop, and implement, the kind of national infrastructure plan required for our water needs for the next 50 years? And, if so, why didn’t they do that in the past 20 years?
All those questions need to be answered, so people can have the complete picture. Instead, there is an air of unreality about the whole issue. There is a sense that inevitably we are moving towards an ending — or at least a postponement — of charges without any real discussion about a viable replacement.
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That is exactly the kind of unthinking populism that landed the country in the economic crisis in the first place. Where were the questioning voices who were prepared to challenge the prevailing groupthink a decade ago? We are in serious danger of repeating that mistake.