Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 12 January 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services

Irish Water and Commission for Energy Regulation

2:00 pm

Photo of Jim DalyJim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It would be important that those would be obtained. I am not sure why neither body dealing with it has not provided them. I appreciate the Chair's offer to try and get those figures.

On the same topic, I ask Irish Water to elaborate. Mr. McNicholas spoke about the set-up cost of Irish Water. As practising politicians, we deal all day, every day with myth versus reality. Commentators, including elements of the media and all sorts of politicians, are good at hyping myth, getting the public's anger up and so on, and there is a general perception abroad with a certain cohort, certainly egged on by an enthusiastic media in many quarters, that Irish Water is an expensive waste of time and money. I ask Mr. McNicholas to elaborate on the €173 million in set-up costs, particularly the €60 million on consultants that caused all the furore back in the day with Mr. Grant's predecessor, Mr. Tierney. Perhaps Mr. McNicholas would lay out the cold facts. He stated that it cost €100 million less than any other utility of its type to set up. I refer to the savings at the time. Perhaps Mr. McNicholas would provide clarity on that and some media might portray that side of it as well in the interest of balance.

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