I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Ombudsman Act 1980 (as amended) to make provision for the inclusion of Irish Water in the schedule of agencies reviewable by the Ombudsman and to provide for related matters.
I welcome the opportunity to introduce the Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2014, the purpose of which is to amend the existing legislation relating to the Ombudsman in order to include a number of agencies on the list of bodies reviewable by the Ombudsman. Those bodies are Irish Water, Bord Gáis Éireann, EirGrid and the Commission for Energy Regulation.
People in this House and outside of it accept that the role of the Ombudsman is to investigate complaints from members of the public who believe they have been unfairly treated by certain public bodies. The Ombudsman is impartial and highly respected. Up to now, all issues relating to water services have been capable of review by the Ombudsman. All local authorities come under the remit of the Ombudsman and any queries in respect of water supplies, services and fees or anything of that nature, particularly as they relate to commercial customers, could, until now, be dealt with by the Ombudsman in circumstances where a member of the public made a complaint because he or she was of the view that he or she had not been treated fairly. A problem now arises, however, in that the legislation under which Irish Water was established removes the right of members of the public to make complaints to the Ombudsman in respect of that company. To date, complaints regarding water services and supplies delivered by local authorities could be made to the Ombudsman if a person felt that he or she was unfairly treated by the relevant authority. That option was removed when Irish Water was established.
The establishment of Irish Water has led to a reduction in existing citizens' and consumers' rights. It is ironic that today the House is debating - I have already made my contribution - the Competition and Consumer Protection Bill, particularly as the new super-quango that is Irish Water can completely ignore consumer rights and that such consumers will have no right of appeal to the Ombudsman. State monopolies should come under the remit of the Ombudsman. The Government refused to bring Irish Water under the terms of the freedom of information legislation on several occasions. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, refused to do so time and again in recent months. However, the Government was eventually forced to complete a U-turn and include the company under the legislation. I ask that it now agree to bring Irish Water and the other bodies to which I refer under the remit of the Ombudsman.
I take this opportunity to remind Members of a reply to a parliamentary question I received from the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, on 4 March 2014. That reply states, "The Programme for Government includes a commitment to introduce water charges based on usage above a free allowance." Now it has emerged that a minimum fee of €100 or thereabouts - the actual amount has yet to be confirmed - will be imposed. As is the case with electricity supplies and telephony services, VAT may apply in respect of this fee. I expect, therefore, that whatever is the final figure decided upon by the Government, the Revenue Commissioners will add VAT to it. This issue must be dealt with. There is no such thing as a free allowances in circumstances where one is obliged to pay €100.
There are now two regulators for Irish Water. The Commission for Energy Regulation is responsible for the economic regulation of the company, while the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, will be responsible for regulating it in the context of environmental issues. As stated, there will be two regulators but no one has been charged to cater for the needs of the customer. A code of practice is to be approved but this will not be statutorily based and it will be developed and implemented at the whim of Irish Water and the Commission for Energy Regulation. I have included Bord Gáis in the legislation before the House because it is the parent company of Irish Water.
The Commission for Energy Regulation should be included as well because it is the regulatory body for Irish Water and I also wish to include EirGrid under the legislation. EirGrid has no concept of how to treat customers or the general public and it should be brought under the remit of the Ombudsman. All fair and reasonable people would accept that. Projects such as Grid Link, Grid West, the North-South interconnector and the Ratheniska substation are causing major problems. Never before has there been 35,000 submissions from the public made to a State body because of how it was implementing projects such as Grid Link. I praise those among the public for the time and effort they took to make submissions, but it proves one point, that the public are not happy with how EirGrid is going about the project. That is why there were 35,000 submissions. It proves more than anything else that people believe they are not being treated fairly by EirGrid. That is the reason EirGrid should now come under the remit of the Ombudsman. It is the role of the Ombudsman to investigate public bodies and EirGrid should be included. I call for support for this legislation to extend the remit of the Ombudsman to Irish Water, Bord Gáis Éireann, EirGrid and the Commission for Energy Regulation.
