The Government got the establishment of Irish Water wrong: its structure, the charging system, how it deals with citizens. They are going to have to go back to the drawing board if they want to win back trust in how we manage this precious resource.

The measure that the Government seems to have in mind, namely a flat rate water charge for the next few years, is not the right answer. There is a real risk we will end up with a short-term political response that becomes the wrong long-term answer, leaving us with the worst of both worlds.

We would still be paying a charge, but getting none of the conservation measures that provide us with the best chance of cutting back on our bills.

We’re using twice as much water every day as the average person in Belgium, while our system is leaking twice as much as the one in the UK. The Right2Water campaign is acknowledging that we have to pay for water, but says there needs to be fairness in any payment system. But how could it be fair when you pay the same amount, no matter how much you use?

The old method – paying for everything via income tax – comes with its own set of problems. We need to make it easier to get people working, rather than putting an ever bigger burden on labour, while the thousands of people on group water schemes could rightly ask why they should be expected to pay twice. 

So what is fair? Well, a good start would be for the Government to recognise that there is the inherent right of every single person to have a basic water allocation. A charge should only then apply on the wasteful use of water above that amount.

Of course, this charge would not cover the full cost of what we are spending at the moment - it might raise half of what the Government was originally planning to collect - and a balancing payment would then have to come from the Exchequer. But our number one priority needs to be the water efficiency, and this approach would incentivise this.

"We need to put sustainability into the heart of this new system."

The real threat to our 'right to water' lies in the future – it doesn’t come from government-imposed charges, but from drought, and from the pollution that is already affecting tens of thousands of Irish people on a daily basis. 

Instead of fiddling around the edges, the Government must lift the burden for those on low incomes and those with a real inability to pay. The best way to do this is to take up the suggestion of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and give a cash payment - a refundable tax credit - to those who don't benefit from the tax break the Government has offered to those on higher incomes.

Finally, we need to do all this under a constitutional guarantee that any new water service will always be in public ownership. Such a provision would recognise that water is not a saleable commodity, but a precious natural resource that belongs to us all. This is not an issue for the Troika or the markets to decide upon. We are free to decide what exactly is the best way for us to provide the water we need in our homes, our farms and our industries. We need to put sustainability into the heart of this new system.

It is the only fair and efficient way to go.