John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

The motion calls on the Government to focus its attention on the dismal state of our national water services and the disastrous state of our county roads. The Government must take urgent and decisive action to address these problems. This is a time of national crisis and we must ensure all necessary action is taken to avoid the same widespread damage being inflicted again on people. I acknowledge the great work done by county council staff in Sligo and Leitrim in trying to keep roads open and water services in operation in spite of weather and resource difficulties this month. However, the great practical work done by the staff does not diminish the inaction and indifference of this Fianna Fáil-led Government to the state of our water services and roads.

The motion lists the large problems in water services and roads. I was without water supply for a week during the recent frost and snow and understand the difficulties faced by thousands of people who were also without water supply. In many counties the potholes are back with a bang. In Sligo and Leitrim, some local roads are so badly broken up that they are virtually impassable.

These problems follow on from the flooding before Christmas. During that crisis, water treatment plants were out of action while drinking water supplies were contaminated by human and animal waste. Families and businesses were forced to leave their property. Many local roads were blocked while towns and villages were isolated. Rail and bus services were cut off. All these events show the consequences of the Government's indifference to the real problems being faced in rural Ireland.

The widespread devastation caused by the flooding before Christmas and then the present failure of water supply services across the country demonstrates clearly the urgent need for a strategic and integrated plan for our national water resources. These resources are an important natural asset to Ireland. In the past, the priority for our major freshwater resources was electricity generation. For the future, the new national priority must be the freshwater systems as a national resource for drinking water. It must be managed from this perspective. The fundamental requirement is an integrated approach through which energy generation, amenity, fishing, boating, water sports, recreational tourism, drinking water resource, pollution control, flood management and protection are considered in a strategic and balanced way. In the recently introduced Inland Fisheries Bill 2009 the Government introduced the concept of eight river basin districts as the fundamental model for a comprehensive new approach to the management of water resources.

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