Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht

County and City Managers Association

11:15 am

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank CCMA for its presentation. I acknowledge the effort and commitment of CCMA and its members throughout the country in the savings they have made, especially in the non-pay area where it was challenging, to say the least. This word "challenging" is overused lately. It is a new word for another description which I will not repeat here.

Regarding the transition in the county and city managers' historical role in water services to the new role that is expected and the configuration of Irish Water, I am worried that there could be a loss to the economy by virtue of the potential for sale. The witnesses mentioned they are part of a body that is involved in the transition process. I am sure that deals with employment issues as well as everything else. I have asked the Minister and Irish Water to place on the table an audit of the existing network throughout the country to put a roadmap in place as to the reinstatement and rectification works required to make that fit for purpose. Then one could be confident of the public paying for that service. That has not been forthcoming yet. Are the witnesses involved in that process? Can we expect at the end of such a process that this information will be in the public domain well in advance of any billing to the public for a service that, as we have seen in recent weeks and months, is not necessarily fit for purpose as it stands?

There will be political accusations about what was done in the past. Over the last number of years there has been huge investment in the infrastructure and networks. That was evident in my county and many others and I can go through it if people want to challenge me. However, that has come to a standstill with the emphasis on the creation of Irish Water and its corporate identity, with no apparent emphasis on the service that the public expects and would appreciate considering it is being asked to pay for that facility. Can the witnesses throw any light on an issue about which I have failed to get any response, an overhaul and programme of works in the offing? If the witnesses did nothing else this morning but enlighten me about that I would be more than happy with their performance.

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