Opposition rages over exempting Irish Water from information law

The operations of Irish Water, which will collect charges from households around the country by 2015, will be covered in a veil of secrecy, according to Fianna Fáil.

The opposition has strongly criticised the Government for failing to include the semi-state agency in new freedom of information legislation governing what the public is entitled to know.

Fianna Fáil’s public expenditure and reform spokesman Seán Fleming condemned the bill, which he said “lacks substance”.

He said the Government is creating a new monopoly with Irish Water which will derive 100% of its income from the public who have “a right to know how this company will operate; the costs it will incur; and the charges and rationale for the charging scheme it will be levelling”.

“The exclusion of this new commercial semi-state organisation that will have an absolute monopoly on the provision of water to households and all other premises throughout the country is astonishing.”

He disputed a claim by Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin that the FoI Act cannot apply to Irish Water for competitive and commercial reasons.

The changes to the act, published at the end of July, reverse the earlier restrictions put in place by Fianna Fáil in Government.

It will extend the act to include limited information from Nama and the Central Bank. Among the agencies still exempt are An Post, Coillte, ESB, Bord Gáis, Bord na Móna, CIÉ, the DAA, the Irish Aviation Authority, Irish Water, VHI, and a number of harbour companies.

Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan praised the extension of the laws to include financial organisations but said there are still bodies funded largely by the taxpayer that should come under the remit as well.

Fianna Fáil said the “negative aspects of this legislation outweigh the positive measures”.

Mr Fleming also believes the work of any Oireachtas committee looking into the banking collapse should be subject to the FoI Act. However, this has already been rejected by the Government.

He accused Mr Howlin of “hiding information” after his department failed to release correspondence it had with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions during pay negotiations.