Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I will start by mentioning places such as Mullinahone and Drangan. The Burncourt water scheme has been dragging on for ever so long. Some progress has been made, but I would ask the Minister to give serious consideration to the people of Mullinahone who have endured a very bad water supply. There is a need for new pipes to be laid and a entirely new system between Burncourt and Drangan and the Fethard area. I hope the Minister will sort out that before he leaves office.

I am sure nearly every person in the country was affected over Christmas by difficulties with the water supply. It brings home to us the need for change and why we, the people and local authorities must learn from this. That is why the Fine Gael motion tonight is timely. I commend our spokesman on the environment, Deputy Hogan, on giving us an opportunity to speak on this.

The reality is that 43% is a significant amount of water to waste nationally out of our pipes before it gets to the homes, the farms, the hotels and wherever it is needed. We are losing that amount of water. We saw the pipes breaking down in mile after mile of road over the Christmas period. Nobody could stand over such a system.

I commend the local authority workers who went out in the freezing cold and the wet and who often had water sprayed into their faces. They had to endure difficult circumstances and they worked hard for long hours. If the Minister were to ask any one of those who were down the holes trying to fix the pipes what is needed, he would be told the entire system needs to be changed. The way local authorities go about their business needs to change. What my party is proposing is the best way forward. Taking the NRA and the way it dealt with the roads as an example, if there were a signal agency to deal with our water system there would be a far better supply to consumers. If a system such as this were put in place, it would attract a great deal of industry to the country.

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