Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Tá fíor-áthas orm deis a bheith agam cúpla focal a rá faoin ábhar seo. I am glad the Minister acknowledged the €4.6 billion the previous Government spent on the improvement of water services and the plans it had to spend another €320 million.

The Department could reform the way it does its business. In the short time I was responsible for the Department I made it clear that I believed the system whereby a local authority had to constantly revert to the Department for permission, instead of devolving all the small schemes to the local authorities to be carried out with devolved funds, is a total waste of time and money. As a result, works are seriously delayed and engineers with the same qualifications as those in the local authorities are overseeing their work. It only enriches the consultants.

It is interesting that the Minister is proposing to establish another quango. The Government promised to get rid of many quangos but it has now found that most of them serve useful purposes.

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