Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

In the current economic climate, given the effect of austerity measures on the ordinary people of this country and given that any money raised from water metering is unlikely to come back into the system and help to improve it, we should concentrate on fixing the pipes, introducing more cost-effective measures and more environmentally friendly ways of providing water supplies for households. The latter would also help to create a great deal of employment.

Today's edition of The Irish Times contains an article by Paul Krugman in which he discusses austerity measures and emphasises the need for growth-oriented policies. I am of the view that a major investment on the part of the Government in dealing with water wastage would represent money well spent in both the short and long term. Everyone states that it will cost too much to deal with this problem. Everything costs too much now but, in the long term, an investment of the nature I have outlined would be money well spent.

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