Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

In view of the gross neglect by the Government, no money has been spent that is worth talking about. The same amount of water is now being lost as happened long before this Government came into office. They have done nothing to rectify the situation but the first priority is to repair leaks. Let us ensure that all the water that comes into the system will reach homes and businesses. Let us also ensure that water supplies in our reservoirs can be treated before embarking on a wild goose chase to bring water from the River Shannon to Dublin.

We should have a plan to deal with a national emergency of this nature when it recurs. We do not want an ad hoc, unco-ordinated, missing-Minister plan, which happened in the most recent case. We should recognise the reality that extremely severe weather conditions are occurring here regularly. This situation must be addressed and the Minister is ultimately responsible for doing so. I have not seen any suggestion of long-term plans and policies being co-ordinated with local authorities to deal with the immediate problem of leakages from burst water mains. The situation is up in the air and meanwhile there are insufficient water supplies for domestic and commercial consumers. The Minister should come up with something that is more positive and substantial than what we have heard to date.

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