Mr. Ian Talbot:

I prefaced my comments on the motor tax office by saying the process was very good and had significantly improved on what it was ten years ago. However, seeing it shut down is a concern. The change that provoked the queues was something the local government efficiency review group of which I was a member and which reported in June 2010 recommended. It has taken the best part of four years for it to move from being a recommendation to being given effect; therefore, there was plenty of time to consider whether there would be an issue. Perhaps not everybody expected an extra 15,000 tractors to be registered. We accept that these things happen. The flexibility a private sector contract brings to the table means that we can demand more of that contract and in such cases it becomes an issue for the third party to deal with a particular situation. I accept, however, the point made by the Senator.

On the issue of water, Chambers Ireland has long been an advocate of the need for the user to pay for the services provided. In Ireland we have a funny attitude; we fully expect to pay for gas which is a natural resource but which has to be mined, piped and delivered to homes in a safe and secure manner. We are perfectly happy to pay a standing charge and user fees for it, but we do not seem to want to pay for water which falls as rain and must be harvested, treated and delivered to our houses in a secure manner. That seems different to us because it rains all the time.

In this morning's Irish Independent a former Member of the Oireachtas, Ivan Yates, spoke about his experience in Wales where people pay for water consumption and water to be taken away from their houses. The assumption is that water will be returned to the system to be dealt with. We believe, from a business and individual perspective, that users should pay for services. This would lead to these services being treated with more respect and it should improve consumption levels. From the business perspective, there needs to be a balance established between the cost of treatment and the cost of harvesting and investment in infrastructure. We support the establishment of Irish Water in order that we will have a central body to co-ordinate delivery of the service.