John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

As I said to the Deputy at the recent committee meeting, one would be forgiven for believing that Monday's press launch was about water metering; of course it was not. It was about the water services investment programme, which is a very significant capital investment in our water infrastructure, be it in improving drinking water quality or investing in wastewater treatment plants. Considering the number of schemes included in that, the Deputy will realise that we are taking action in a very pragmatic way. We will no longer concentrate on the schemes, but on the contracts themselves and try to get the greatest possible bang for our buck.

The issue of paying for water meters has not yet been brought to Government. As I told the Deputy the other day, I have not brought forward the memorandum to Cabinet and it would be unwise and premature for me to talk in the House about my initial thoughts on the matter. However, he can be assured that the commitment on this in the programme for Government will be honoured. I very much value the support expressed by the Deputy for the water metering programme. There is now a responsible recognition from the Fine Gael Party that treated water needs to be paid for, but in a fair and transparent way.

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