Fórsa and other unions that represent water workers have rejected Irish Water’s claims that recent service shortcomings in Dublin and Wexford occurred because of the lack of a single national water utility.
This came after the company seized on the short-lived water contaminations, saying they proved an “urgent need” for local authority water plants to come under direct Irish Water control.
The utility’s managing director, Niall Gleeson made the assertion in media interviews and in meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage yesterday (23rd September).
On Fórsa’s initiative, the group of water unions wrote to the committee chair to say they do not accept Mr Gleeson’s assertions. “Neither do we accept Irish Water’s view that recent service shortcomings occurred as a result of the absence of a single national water authority,” they added.
The four unions – Fórsa, Siptu, Connect and Unite, also sought the opportunity to make a presentation to the Oireachtas committee.
The four unions – Fórsa, Siptu, Connect and Unite, also sought the opportunity to make a presentation to the Oireachtas committee.
They have been in Workplace Relations Commission-brokered discussions on the Government’s proposal for a single national water authority for well over a year. It’s proposed that the national authority would supersede existing ‘service level agreements’ between Irish Water and local authorities.
In the WRC discussions, Fórsa has sought movement on four strands broad strands:
- The structure and governance of the proposed single water utility
- Employment and industrial relations issues that arise from the proposal
- The need for a constitutional referendum on public ownership of water services, to assuage fears that the creation of a single authority is a precursor to the eventual privatisation of water services, and
- The future sustainability and revitalisation of local authority services.
None of these issues has been resolved at this stage.