Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I totally agree with Mr. Grant that there is a significant benefit in getting the leaks fixed and I think that should be the primary objective of Irish Water, particularly as there is still a leakage rate of 36% in Dublin. My point relates to the way Irish Water is going about it, if meters are being installed, albeit for ten to 12 days outside homes in Crumlin and Ballyfermot and so on, Irish Water will not win the trust of the public. If Mr. Grant is saying that the objective is to fix the lead piping, one would need to do it in every house and therefore one would not need meters installed on a temporary basis. The public is automatically going to be suspicious that those meters will give Irish Water and the State an indication of what is called excessive use. We still do not know because of the deliberate ambiguity in the law what that amounts to. Fixing the leaks should be absolutely our priority. I was shocked to learn that we will never get below a 20% leakage rate in Dublin. Let me emphasise strongly that Mr. Grant is going about the task of winning the support of the public in the wrong way. Mr. Grant does not have my support for doing so in the manner that it is being done. According to the contractor I met, meters are going to go into the ground. Mr. Grant is saying that the meters will not go into the ground, but somebody is not getting it right here. I have been told that they will go into the ground on a temporary basis to detect leaks.