Ciarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

This is the Government's own policy. It has spent the past hour criticising us for the same policy. I do not intend to dwell on it further but it is important that those speaking on a matter as important as providing the country with a sustainable and properly functioning water service should be aware of their own policy on the matter.

A rather farcical situation arose in County Galway last year when hundreds of acres of land was under water but no water was coming through our taps at the same time. The situation was not the same this time because the freeze up created most of our problems. Every cubic metre of water that goes into most households in the country is treated, but treating water is an expensive pursuit. Only 15% of the water that comes into our households is used for drinking and cooking. The other 85% is used for grey water purposes such as washing, cleaning, laundry and watering gardens. It is unsustainable to allow costly drinking water to be flushed down the toilet. We need to examine the provision of grant aid for increasing the usage of rainwater harvesting systems. With one of the wettest climates in the world, Ireland should be better at gathering in schools, public buildings and other dwellings this resource that falls from the sky. Rainwater harvesting would also provide alternative supply options when severe weather freezes occur, for example.

Sustainable Energy Ireland has done excellent work in sustainable development by providing grant aid for solar panels, wood chip boilers and heat pumps. It also returns millions of unspent euro to the Exchequer every year owing to lack of take-up for its programmes. We must consider Sustainable Energy Ireland grant aiding rainwater harvesting systems. Germany, probably the European country foremost on the cutting edge of innovation, has identified rainwater harvesting as having massive potential in job creation. In Germany now, every new house must provide a rainwater harvesting system with a government-backed grant aid available to meet costs. If we are to convince people that government is able to respond effectively to crises such as this, we need to plan our responses in a meaningful and effective way.