Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have been observing most of this meeting. In our job, we listen to two sides of the story and somewhere in the middle is the truth. We are very familiar with this. It is down to communication, unfortunately, whether it is the people of Kiltimagh or anywhere else. We have had issues before with communications with county councils breaking down, memorandums of understanding being signed pre-Uisce Éireann or Irish Water and then everything getting lost.

I will not say too much because many of the previous speakers have said what I was going to say. These committees are not the knocking shop all the time. Sometimes you bring people together so they can explain exactly what went wrong and we can right those wrongs. The witnesses have the commitment between them all now and even the possible timeframe to get this done. They have each said their part, that there will be a cost and there have been gaps but we are going in the right direction. All I ask is that, please God, within 12 months, the people of Kiltimagh will have their own water. It is very difficult. I understand where they are coming from as regards the red tape, the new regulations and the green regulations. They slow down the process, but the communication always has been the barrier between groups.

At a petitions committee meeting a number of years ago, we had five different bodies, five different entities, all working on one weir with five different ideas. Those five groups never sat in a room together and asked, given that they had five separate plans for the exact same weir, could they not sit down together and have one plan between the five of them for the weir.

I ask the witnesses to keep in contact. We will follow this up if we have to do so. I thank them all for their honesty today. The witnesses in the first half of the meeting may want to revisit this. There is a structure on the committee for that. I thank all the witnesses. The discussion has been enlightening. Please God they will have progress on the matter.