The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, is rushing through all Stages of the Water Services (No. 2) Bill this week, transferring water services from local authorities to the new company Irish Water. I am sure the Taoiseach is aware of the alarming reports from Dublin City Council and its manager about the implications for our capital city. Dublin City Council will be asset-stripped to the tune of €2 billion following the takeover of its services by Irish Water. The city manager has been clear about what this will mean. It will mean higher water charges for the city's businesses, damage to the council's ability to respond to severe weather events and huge financial and operational risks to the largest local authority in the State. These negative consequences will affect local authorities across the State. Dublin City Council faces pension liabilities of €330 million for water service staff without the assets to fund it. It is normal practice that when a public function is transferred from one authority to another, responsibility for legacy pensions is also transferred. However, in this situation we are witnessing the transfer of major assets built up over many years by the businesses and people of the city with no compensation for the city council. Furthermore, Dublin City Council was obliged to sign agreements to provide water services for the company for the next 12 years. Although the transfer is due to take place on 1 January, it has not been given a final draft of the service level agreement.

I ask the Taoiseach and his Government to withdraw the Bill, step back and review the utterly reckless water services strategy being pursued by the Minister, Deputy Hogan. Will the Taoiseach remove from struggling citizens, whom he addressed over the weekend, the prospect of yet more money being taken from their pockets in the form of domestic water charges and higher water charges for businesses in Dublin city?

The answer to both questions is "No". The question of the supply of water to the city, its citizens and its growing population deserves the most serious consideration. For far too long, substantial amounts of water have leaked away through the system that taxpayers pay for and there is clearly a need for a major project in which the pipes service in Dublin city can be renovated, repaired and brought up to standard. There is also a need to deal with the future requirements of the city and its population for the next 50 years, from other locations or by whatever means.

It costs €1.2 billion per year to run the current system, with most of the funding coming from State sources. The creation of Irish Water has many benefits in terms of increased investment resulting in better-quality water services, which are fundamental for industry, human consumption and the health of our people. Not only do enhanced water services benefit individual households, they also attract industries with high water usage. Deputy McDonald is aware of the exceptional amount of high-quality water required by modern industry in a country such as Ireland. With global demand due to rise by 40% in the next 20 years, it is a critical issue.

Dublin City Council will be left with pension liabilities of €330 million. Local authorities operate a public sector defined benefit pay-as-you-go pension scheme. Therefore, as pension liabilities fall due when people retire, payments are made from current expenditure. Liability arises if everyone working for the services retires in the morning. The Minister for Social Protection has pointed out that there is a major pension problem in respect of the entire public service, which makes this figure seem relatively modest. Pension liability already exists in respect of staff working in water services, so the transition to Irish Water does not create a new liability. The service level agreement provides that Irish Water will pay local authorities for existing water service pensioners. The Water Services (No. 2) Bill also provides a mechanism for payment of pension benefits to local authority staff who transfer to Irish Water now or following the service level agreement. When the service level agreement comes to an end, the pension liability for water services staff who do not transfer to Irish Water will rest with the local authority. This is unlikely to arise until 2025 at the earliest.

The comment about asset-stripping to the tune of €2 billion without any compensation is an unbalanced presentation. The Bill provides for the transfer of water services assets to Irish Water and all of the liabilities associated with the assets, including loans. A total of €730 million in gross water costs will transition to Irish Water from 2014. Some €244 million will be paid back to local authorities for the provision of water services under the terms of the service level agreement. Irish Water expects to pay commercial rates of approximately €42 million to local authorities on the water infrastructure assets that transfer to it from 1 January 2014. The remaining €444 million of water-related costs, which local authorities would otherwise have to meet from their own resources, will be funded centrally by Irish Water.

The Bill provides that non-domestic charges existing in local authorities in 2013 will continue to apply from 1 January 2014 and will continue to be collected by local authorities on behalf of Irish Water for the first half of 2014. Irish Water will be responsible for collection of commercial water charges from 1 July 2014. In respect of the Dublin City Council deficit in 2014, the city manager issued a note to councillors on Friday stating that the general purpose grant, GPG, allocation he received in the net transfer of water costs to Irish Water represented a satisfactory outcome and exceeded his expectations in regard to the council's funding position in 2014. He said he was satisfied that he would be able to prepare a draft budget for 2014 that would largely maintain service levels.

The Taoiseach is right in saying something must be done in respect of the provision of water services, and not just for the city of Dublin. He is correct that the current system is leaking like a sieve and, as a result, there is huge wastage. The initiative and the stance taken by the Government have nothing to do with that because, if his concern was water preservation, the Government would have invested the €700 million spent on the establishment of Irish Water on remedial works for the infrastructure. It has not done so. This is simply a mechanism to raise more revenue and stick the Government's hand in the pockets of families the length and breadth of the State, despite the Taoiseach's honeyed rhetoric of recent times.

There is clearly a concern in respect of the pension liability. Nobody is suggesting for a minute that all those liabilities would be crystalised in a week or a month but it does warrant some explanation to the local authority as to why it would carry any liability for those pensions if workers work for Irish Water and are no longer contracted to the local authority. It is extremely worrying that the council has not had sight of the service level agreement, and that is a reflection of the very rushed approach the Government has taken in all these matters. Let it not go without comment that all Stages of this legislation are to be taken by the Dáil in two days this week. This is very complex legislation, even for those who propose it, because of the transfer of assets, and it is quite astonishing and unacceptable for the Government to rush legislation like this in this manner.

There is no time for proper scrutiny or consideration but that is the game plan. It has been the game plan of the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, from the get go to force these matters through. It was done with the property tax and it is to be done again with water charges. The Taoiseach has argued it is for the betterment of society and in the best interest of the citizen but in reality it is just a smash-and-grab, a cheap pickpocketing of taxpayers and citizens once again.

In the interest of having good legislation and out of respect for the people elected to this place and those elected to Dublin City Council, will the Government pull back on this legislation and at least pause for proper consideration? I ask the Minister, Deputy Hogan, to meet the delegation of Dublin city councillors to hear first-hand their concerns. I understand he was a no-show at a meeting last evening but it would be appropriate for him to meet the directly elected representatives of this city. The citizens elect these people and it would be only proper for the Minister to make himself available to them.

As I understand it, the Minister, Deputy Hogan, was not invited to the meeting but was rather requested to send an official. As the Deputy knows, the Bill was in the Seanad last evening with the Minister, Deputy Hogan, and the Minister of State at the Department, Deputy O'Dowd. The Minister was not asked to attend the meeting but was asked to send an official, which he did.

I have given the figures in respect of the statement issued and I have dealt with the question of the pension liabilities. I have also dealt with the assertion of a loss of €2 billion in assets, as well as the collection of the commercial water charges. The intention all over the country is to provide a modern system of treating water and being able to provide that treated water to citizens. We should be able to provide clean water in the required volumes for business, industry and other uses. Whereas local authorities worked over many years, it is fair to say that standards were applied differently in many areas. I have first-hand knowledge of this. Irish Water, as a major investment and new entity, will have a system right across the country of the very best level of provision and treatment. It is a major undertaking. This is not a question of wanting to rush legislation through.

The Government is rushing it through.

I have dealt with the figures raised by the Deputy, the transfer of assets, pension liabilities and the collection of commercial rates. It is time to move on with a system fit for 2014 and beyond, and that is what Irish Water will be able to do.

That is nonsense.

Why is the legislation being rushed through in two days? It is ridiculous.

All the Governments over the past 50 years have seen the likes of pipes extending throughout the Dublin regional network, where we lose very substantial amounts of treated water every day.

The Government did not put in enough investment. It is very simple.

There was trouble recently in the treatment works and the extent of water that could be treated coming out of that. This was causing trouble for Dublin business and daily commercial life. We must get this right.

This is not a formula for sorting that out.

We are talking about the capital city but this does not just apply to Dublin.

The game plan is to sell the company to the private sector.

The standards must apply across the board and in a country that has as much rain as we do, there must be a reliable supply of treated water that is cost-effective and does not have the taxpayer paying very substantial amounts of money for treated water that could then flow away through inferior pipes to the earth. That is one of the real tasks that will be carried out in Irish Water's major projects. The standard must be raised so the network is fit for purpose for 2014 and beyond. We are talking about an entity that will last for very many years and which will supply a scarce and precious commodity that is becoming very expensive to treat.

It is about privatisation.

The money should be put into infrastructure rather than meters.

The Minister was not requested to attend the meeting.

The Government is taking the lead from the troika the very same weekend it contends we are free of the troika.

The Deputy wants everything for free.