James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegation for coming before the committee. In December 2011 the Minister, in addressing a water summit in Dublin, revealed that PricewaterhouseCoopers had carried out the first phase of its independent assessment of the concept of the Irish Water project as part of the programme for Government. I see no costs outlined in the document before us for its consultancy fees and no reference to who took care of them. Was a full analysis, including of costs, carried out by the Cabinet at the time? At the summit the Minister categorically stated he would be using the expertise of local authorities. There is a great deal of such expertise in local authorities up and down the country, as I know as I was a member of local authorities for a number of years and involved in the setting up of group water schemes. There were personnel with experience in the authorities that would be the equivalent of that of consultants.

The public is angry as it believes the €50 million spent on consultancy fees is excessive, considering that 34 local authorities around the country last year collected approximately €200 million in non-domestic charges. One quarter of what was collected last year has been spent on consultancy fees, which is excessive. We are overlooking the fact that the Department and, by extension, the Government and the State is spending in the region of €300 million to upgrade the water system and should not be giving the impression to the public that the infrastructure is also being dealt with, as it is not; the €50 million was solely spent on consultancy fees.

Will there be further spending by Irish Water on consultancy fees? In the document presented to us it is indicated that the Irish Water programme will run to April 2015 in order to finalise systems and deliver a further geographic information system and a mobile workforce management system. How much will this cost and is the cost included in the €50 million figure? The document also indicates that the Irish Water business model is to operate largely within Bord Gáis and the local authorities, with a very small element of support from third party providers. Who are the third party providers? Do they include the national confederation of group schemes or local authorities? How much will they cost and who is engaging them? I would like these questions to be answered.

The document indicates that the entire programme and associated budget, as well as the approach to resourcing and staffing, were rigorously examined and approved both by the internal Bord Gáis governance approval process and relevant Departments. What Departments were involved other than the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government?