Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The context for this hearing is the sense of outrage people who have been hit with property taxes and are soon to be hit with water charges feel when they hear money they would expect to go to fix leaking water pipes, provide reservoirs and improve water quality, may be going to line the pockets of highly-paid consultants and executives in Irish Water. Furthermore, our Government was trying to cover up that fact over the last year. Having listened to the Irish Water representatives, my fears are not allayed on any of those questions.

Who knew what, when and where? Did Mr. Tierney know parliamentary questions had been asked when they were asked, along the lines of what has been asked today and on which we finally got answers today? Is he surprised that last week, Government representatives, including the line Minister, Deputy O'Dowd, and the Tánaiste, expressed surprise about the amount that was spent on consultants, while he is telling us they knew? Ordinary members of the public, and I as a public representative, are confused at how Mr. Tierney can tell us they knew while last week they said they were surprised. We need clarity. Mr. Tierney has given us the answer, that they knew but were not telling us. Therefore, their expressions of surprise last week were fake. They were fooling the public last week when they said they were surprised. They were not surprised because they knew. That appears to be what Mr. Tierney is telling us.

Is all the money that is being pumped into Irish Water in the form of home taxes, and soon to be water charges, going to line the pockets of consultants and highly-paid executives? The figures are extraordinary: €44 million to IBM. The Irish Water representatives have tried today to convince us that this is money well spent. They would want to do something special to justify €44 million to IBM or €17 million to KPMG. How many pipes were fixed for this money? What is the percentage improvement in the amount of water leaking out of the system for the money that was given to IBM, Accenture, KPMG and Ernst and Young? Not one iota of water has been saved as a result of that expenditure.