Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

I thank Deputy Gogarty for sharing his time.

Water is everybody's issue. It knows no boundaries. The amount we have invested in water services during our time in office - more than €500 million - has been outstanding. Even the Deputies across the floor must allow that this has been a massive investment.

The €19.4 million we have obtained for the main drainage schemes and water services in Carlow has been a major boost to the second smallest county in Ireland, and I thank the Minister for that. Carlow has been flooding for more than 100 years, and when this work is done we will be able to say goodbye to flooding once and for all. When I was a member of Carlow County Council and there was a problem with the Troyswood water treatment plant in Kilkenny, there was not a squeak out of the Fine Gael councillors. It was I, a councillor from a neighbouring county, who took a petition to the European Parliament to make sure the citizens of Kilkenny would have clean water.

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