Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Everybody would accept that it is not feasible to answer specific questions in regard to the costs in the middle of a tendering process. There is a reasonable concern in regard to commercially sensitive information. The reality, however, is that this whole debacle could have been avoided if there had been some straight talking at the outset. The establishment costs are justifiable, but they should, at the outset, have been published in an itemised fashion and defended. When we are spending public moneys on the establishment of a public utility, there must be full transparency on all associated matters.

Irish Water has my full support for the role it will fulfil. Members will recall the episode of cryptosporidium contamination in the Galway water supply, which had huge effects throughout the city and wider area. Irish Water will be in a position, separate to Government, to source funding to improve water infrastructure throughout the county, similar to the way in which ESB operates in regard to electricity infrastructure. Colleagues may have heard the feature yesterday morning on Sean O'Rourke's radio programme about the lack of water infrastructure in the east Galway village of Kilreakle. Members have referred to other locations throughout the country where people are obliged to boil water. That is not acceptable in this day and age and is indicative of the significant investment that is required. Reference was also made to the 40% level of leakage from the water supply. We have serious issues to deal with and Irish Water is the correct vehicle to address them.

There has been much critical comment, particularly from the Opposition benches, regarding the moneys involved in establishing Irish Water. It is useful to consider the costs involved in establishing other public utilities. In the case of the all-island single electricity market, SEM, which was initiated in 2005, the establishment costs were €256 million. That initiative has led to reduced prices for consumers. The Committee of Public Accounts and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, of which I am a member, will continue to pursue these matters and to ensure there is full accountability and transparency with regard to Irish Water. That is our job. The debate that has taken place in recent weeks has been useful in bringing to the fore the need for transparency and accountability. I refer here to both Irish Water and the Department. It is critical that the public is fully informed in regard to the spending of public moneys.