Today, representatives of the Commission for Energy Regulation were due to attend the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht to outline the water charges plan.

I have just come from that meeting. The representatives were not able to enlighten the committee because Irish Water did not submit its plan to the commission in time. It was reported in Saturday's Irish Independent that the promised free allowance for children of 38,000 litres per annum is being reviewed by Irish Water, which appears to think it is overly generous. Judging from what its representatives said at the committee meeting, the CER seems to agree with Irish Water. The Irish Independent article also reported that usage rates will be critical in determining how much families will pay when the bills arrive next January.

Prior to the local elections, the Taoiseach promised to provide price clarity to voters because he wanted them to be informed when they went to the polling stations. He stated that the average bill for a household would be €240 per year. However, the election was hardly a ringing endorsement for Fine Gael or the Labour Party, and the exit polls identified water charges as a key issue. I do not think that the need to invest in water services and to conserve water is in doubt but Irish Water is a juggernaut that keeps ploughing through the stop signs. The Government gave a commitment to eliminate quangos and that culture but we have an inflated super-quango in the form of Irish Water. The ESRI estimates that each household will pay €65 to cover staffing costs before a drop of water is produced. The overheads are gigantic and it is difficult to see where the investment will be found. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has indicated that investment will need to double from €300 million to €600 per annum. Households are already struggling to pay utility bills. This is a runaway train but a runaway train can be stopped if there is the political will to do so. Given the response in the local elections and the fact the public have clearly identified this as a key issue, will the Taoiseach listen to what the people have said and halt this runaway train?

I listened carefully to what the people have said. As Deputy Catherine Murphy is aware from living on the edge of the great conurbation of Dublin, the vast majority of the people are living in a situation where there is no room for any flexibility in terms of water supply. It is costing the taxpayer €1.2 billion to provide water services throughout the country. Some 40% of that water leaks away into the ground. This is not a runaway train. This is a commercial State body with specific terms of reference to borrow money in the markets off the Government balance sheet in order to provide the necessary investment for infrastructure for water, businesses and consumers for the next 50 to 100 years. We have not been able to compete in the way we should because of the lack of investment over many years.

The policy position from Government has been and is very clear, that is, the average household charge to the regulator will be €240 per year, or €60 per quarter. Every child is to be free in terms of water usage. The assessment carried out by Irish Water is one thing. The assessment carried out by the previous Government would give a higher usage rate of water per child. The important issue is that the direction given to the regulator by the Government is clear. The average meter charge is €240 per year and every child under the age of 18 years is to be free. The regulator will set out its assessment of the usage rate per child in the coming period. The direction from Government is very clear. Every child will be free and the average meter charge will be €240 per year.

In the Deputy's constituency the pressure for high volume pristine water for businesses and consumers alike is very strong. There is no room for messing around with the supply of water. We had this in Ballymore Eustace last year and this city almost came to a standstill, with people having to use water at night only. Given our geographic location, average rainfall per year and reservoir capacity, we should be in a far better position. Over the next decade or 20 years, Irish Water will be in a position to provide investment for infrastructure for consumers, business, industry and all the different sectors of society to bring our standards to the level at which they should be but where they have not been for a long time.

The Taoiseach keeps repeating the same mantra about the investment required. Mr. John Tierney outlined to us that in the region of €10 billion will be required over the next 20 years. We heard from the Minister, Deputy Hogan, that the level of investment is to increase after 2016 from €300 million to €600 million per annum. That frightens the daylights out of people because they already see what bills they are facing and they know they cannot manage at present. We are told that the investment will save billions of euro for the State. That is because the cost will be transferred to the citizens, who will be turned into customers in the process.

Would the Deputy like it to be privatised?

To add insult to injury, Irish Water hired a public relations firm to brainwash people into acceptance. This reminds me of a book by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman entitled Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. The advice given to Irish Water was to start off by describing water as free and then say it costs money, and that by charging for water people will be persuaded to value water and pay their water bills. This is the strategy of manufacturing consent. However, there is a real problem in this regard. Where will the investment be found given that the Government has bled dry the vast majority of the population, who cannot even pay their utility bills and who will struggle to pay the bills issued to them from next January? The amounts that are proposed to be taken from them will barely cover the running costs of Irish Water. Where will the money be found for the additional investment?

As the Deputy is aware, Irish Water was established for the purpose of borrowing money to invest in providing proper pipe works and treatment plants and fixing leaks. Almost 20,000 people are on boil water notices every day. Some of these have had to buy or boil water for as long as a decade. We hope that in County Roscommon in 2015 this issue will be eliminated from a number of major schemes. The Environmental Protection Agency has advised that remedial action is required on 16% of supplies that are at risk, most of which are in Dublin city and Cork. One million people live at risk every day because of this situation. There are significant supply constraints in this city, as I pointed out in regard to the difficulties in Ballymore Eustace last year, and 40% of the water leaks away. Some 36% of water treatment plants failed to meet the EPA's effluent standards in 2011 and the European Commission has launched a pilot infringement case against Ireland in regard to 80 treatment plants. The taxpayer does not have the resources to provide the investment for all of these matters to be dealt with properly. That is why Irish Water, as a commercial State entity keeping this system in public ownership, will be able to borrow money on the markets-----

And then it will be privatised.

-----and provide jobs and opportunities for people to invest in the pipe works and treatment plants that will put our country where it should be from the provision of water point of view.

Privatisation is the agenda.

We will not be lagging behind when industry, businesses and consumers want high volumes of pristine water. They cannot have that under the current system.

There is no money for investment.

This is going to improve, and we ask that the people make a contribution based on usage. As I stated earlier, a clear direction has been issued to the regulator whereby the average charge will be €60 per quarter and every child will be free.

It is not enough.

There are enough crocodile tears over there to supply Intel.

They might not be the only tears shed this week.