Water and roads - Utilities are too valuable to sell off

THE floods and the coldest winter in decades conspired to give us a reality check that could well turn out to be a blessing.

They may finally force us to accept political failure has real, tangible consequences and we have to act if we want change.

The discomfort and physical challenges that followed these relatively minor weather events, in global terms, were undeniable but disproportionate. They probably had far more impact than any number of well-meaning political or environmental polemics.

Because of the floods — Irish irony of Irish ironies — tens of thousands of people were left without water. Then, just a few weeks later the temperature tumbled and tens of thousands more were left high and very dry because water pipes were frozen solid.

If the water shortages did not act as a wake-up call then surely the destruction of secondary roads after the thaw set in must. Unimaginable, there are suggestions that some roads may have to be closed indefinitely as local authorities cannot afford to repair them.

Our vulnerability was exposed by slightly off-radar weather and we were forced to accept large sections of our infrastructure, and how we manage it, are not fit for purpose.

It is usual, at this point, to say it is more than difficult to understand why this should be the case at the end of the most affluent period in our history, but by now we all know what went wrong.

Yesterday Environment Minister John Gormley said investment in replacing water mains will increase “five-fold” over the next three years. He said €300 million will be spent but acknowledged most of this will be diverted from other projects. Roads maybe?

Mr Gormley admitted this money would be for mend-and-make-do rather than replacement. Vast sections of our water supply system will have to be renewed sooner or later so why not now?

Some funding will come from domestic water charges. Mr Gormley is expected to announce proposals in the coming weeks on the installation of water meters to 1.1m homes. Yesterday one estimate suggested it costs about €1.2 billion a year — enough to rescue a moderately reckless bank — to supply free domestic water to all homes in the country. This is unsustainable and probably wrong as well. We have taken water for granted for too long and indulged a cavalier attitude which led to tremendous waste. Maybe it’s because we regard free drinking water as an infinite entitlement that we are too tolerant of those who pollute it.

Water charges revenue must be ring-fenced for the improvement and provision of water services, it cannot be regarded as a revenue stream to be plundered, to be diverted to resolve the crisis of the day.

Once all houses in the country have water meters installed it might be tempting, in our hour of great need, to consider privatisation of our water supplies. Even if we are close to insolvency we must not privatise utilities. If there is a profit to be made in providing these services why can’t the state make it and use it to enhance public services? Why should this great natural resource not be used for the benefit of us all rather than just for private investors?

We have, more or less, given vast reserves of gas away, let us not make the same mistake with water as, in the not-too-distant future, it will be just as valuable.