Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

The notion that 40% of the water supply is leaking into the ground is damning and the notion of bringing water from the River Shannon, at a cost of €450 million, only to have almost half of it leaking into the ground in Dublin and places like it, is outrageous. From building on the streets of Dublin over the years, I know that a great number of the pipes which are old and made of corroded steel must be replaced. When we were paving the streets, we came across many such pipes but were not allowed to replace them because that was not on the schedule at the time. At times we could actually see water coming up through the ground. Even though it would have been part of our work as civil engineering contractors, we were not allowed to change the pipes. It was a terrible waste.

If the Government is to do anything about water, surely controlling the level of waste must be a top priority. I agree with the Government tackling different elements of waste in the system throughout society, but I also believe there must be a greater emphasis on investment in the water infrastructure, tackling the problem of leakage and, at the same time, creating major employment. Replacing these pipes will be a very labour intensive project, with at least 80% of the cost going for labour and 20% for materials. It would be a very good move by the Government to get involved in this.

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