We must stop playing protest politics with water charges

A year on from the last election, the issue of water charges continues to cause division and bitter debate in Leinster House. But in truth, there is little left for us to be arguing over. If Fianna Fáil could decide where they stand, we could end this.

Last May, the Labour Party published a Bill that would have provided refunds to those who had paid their water charges. We believed then, as we believe now, that those who obey the law cannot be left worse off than those who don’t.

In a separate piece of legislation that we also published in May 2016, we proposed that there should be a referendum to enshrine public ownership of public water supply and waste water treatment infrastructure in our constitution. This was designed to get us past the real concerns of people that Irish Water would be sold off in the future.

Both of these Bills, written by my colleague Willie Penrose, have since found favour with other political parties and groups. It looks like the Oireachtas committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services will recommend that both of these actions should be implemented.

Water is a basic need. It must be safe and reliable. Waste water must be removed and treated in a way that no longer pollutes our rivers and seas. And we need to stop playing protest politics with how we pay for that.

To make this a reality for all our people across the whole country, will take serious investment over many years. It will require careful use of a resource that the Expert Commission recommended should be largely paid for through general taxation.

I agree with the Expert Commission that every household should be provided with sufficient water to cover their domestic and personal needs free of charge. For the state to cover the cost of a basic need seems a reasonable approach to me. Furthermore, the EU Commission has told the Oireachtas committee that the additional needs of some people, for example because of a medical condition, can be catered for within such a regime.

But I don’t believe that the general tax-payer should foot the bill for those who waste water. That would be fundamentally unfair. The idea that someone who leaves their sprinkler systems in the garden on all day, or fails to fix a leaking tap, shouldn’t have to pay for that wastage, is absurd.

If the Oireachtas shirks the issue of charging those who waste water, we will be failing our people. Why should the careful householder, who harvests rain, turns off the tap and minimizes water use pay in taxes for a neighbour who uses treated water with abandon?

For a year now, Fianna Fáil has tried to sit on both sides of this issue. One day, they want all water to be free. The next, they agree with us that those who waste water should pay for it. The time for them to make up their minds has passed.