Paul Murphy slams Irish Water over sewage, warns on privatisation
Paul Murphy spoke in a parliamentary debate about systemic failures at Irish Water and a decade-long sewage problem affecting an elderly couple in Springfield and Talla. He called on the minister to act, accused Iska Aran of passing responsibility and threatening residents, and warned that attempts to reintroduce excessive usage charges or allow privatisation would provoke mass opposition.
Murphy said Irish Water's only rationale and reality was to transfer public assets from local authorities and prepare them for privatisation. He argued that full privatisation was halted by a mass movement of protest and non-payment, but that the organisation still suffers from a litany of failures and a long-standing lack of investment.
He described an ongoing case in Springfield and Talla where sewage from an Iska Aran pipe has flowed into an elderly couple's garden for over ten years. Murphy said Iska Aran has passed responsibility between properties, the council has been unhelpful, and the couple have even been threatened with criminal charges if they try to fix the source themselves.
Murphy asked the minister to investigate the case and ensure that Iska Aran fulfils its duties, stressing that raw sewage in gardens is a clear health hazard affecting neighbours. He noted a similar case a year earlier as evidence of a systemic problem that the agency is meant to resolve.
Murphy criticised assurances from government that there are no plans for excessive usage charges, noting the refusal to back legislation that would rule such charges out permanently. He warned that any attempt to reintroduce charges or revive privatisation would face mass opposition, and reiterated that a promised referendum to enshrine public ownership of water — included in the last programme for government — was not delivered and has been dropped from the current programme for government, leaving workers without the promised guarantee against privatisation.
Allegations of institutional failure
Murphy said Irish Water's only rationale and reality was to transfer public assets from local authorities and prepare them for privatisation. He argued that full privatisation was halted by a mass movement of protest and non-payment, but that the organisation still suffers from a litany of failures and a long-standing lack of investment.
Local sewage crisis in Springfield and Talla
He described an ongoing case in Springfield and Talla where sewage from an Iska Aran pipe has flowed into an elderly couple's garden for over ten years. Murphy said Iska Aran has passed responsibility between properties, the council has been unhelpful, and the couple have even been threatened with criminal charges if they try to fix the source themselves.
Request for ministerial intervention
Murphy asked the minister to investigate the case and ensure that Iska Aran fulfils its duties, stressing that raw sewage in gardens is a clear health hazard affecting neighbours. He noted a similar case a year earlier as evidence of a systemic problem that the agency is meant to resolve.
Warnings on charges and constitutional protections
Murphy criticised assurances from government that there are no plans for excessive usage charges, noting the refusal to back legislation that would rule such charges out permanently. He warned that any attempt to reintroduce charges or revive privatisation would face mass opposition, and reiterated that a promised referendum to enshrine public ownership of water — included in the last programme for government — was not delivered and has been dropped from the current programme for government, leaving workers without the promised guarantee against privatisation.
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Transcript
Thanks. It's quite an incredible debate really to listen to TD after TD from opposition but also government stand up and give out about all the failures of Irish water which are very real and appeal for intervention by the minister and I'll do the same in a moment but it speaks to the failure of this institution of Irish water whose only rationale and reality was to take the public assets previously in the hands of local authorities to tie them up in a bow and prepare them for privatisation. That plan certainly of full frontal privatisation was stopped by a mass movement of protest and of non-payment but we are still dealing with a litany of failures of this organisation of Irish water and a lack of investment over a long period of time. I'll give you an example. Since last December I've been trying to assist an elderly couple in Springfield and Talla who are continually having sewage from an Iska Aran pipe flow into their garden. They've been trying to get Iska Aran Irish water to help them for over 10 years to no avail. Because the pipe passes through several people's gardens Iska Aran's response has been to pass the book to say they are not responsible even though it's an Iska Aran pipe that is causing the problem. The council is no help to them either. On top of being totally unhelpful Iska Aran has actually threatened this couple with criminal charges if they try to fix the source of the problem themselves. They're basically saying just keep cleaning up the raw sewage themselves, keep your mouth shut and stop annoying us. It's a totally unacceptable attitude from a public agency. Raw sewage flooding into anyone's garden is an obvious health hazard. It's not just affecting this one family but their neighbours as well and I dealt with a very very similar case just a year ago. Exact same situation and the same lack of response by Iska Aran. It's exactly the type of issue that Iska Aran is meant to be dealing with. Can the minister look into it and make sure that Iska Aran actually does its job. Finally to go back to the broader point last night we heard from the government or sorry Tuesday night from the government that don't worry we have no plans to introduce excessive usage charges which were stitched into the defeat of the water charges as a back door to try and bring water charges back at a later stage. But at the same time you refuse to vote for legislation which would mean that excessive usage charges are off the table they can't be brought in in the future. So people would be right to be very suspicious of what you are doing. If you do go down that road you will face a mass movement of opposition that will defeat you once again. So I would advise you to give it up now. But one of the things that was promised in an attempt to quell the anti-water charges movement in the last time around was a promise of a referendum to enshrine public ownership of our water into the constitution. That was in the last programme for government it was not delivered it's been dropped from this programme for government. It's a key issue for the water workers to know that they're guaranteed that Irish water Iska Aran will not be privatised.