Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

Sorry, €1.6 billion. I hope the money will first be spent on fixing the pipes, given that 45% of treated water in Dublin city is lost through leakage. To fix those pipes would be labour-intensive and create a lot of employment. It would also be a good investment for the State. I hope the Government does not spend too much money on putting in water meters just to make the water saleable.

I realise the State will be short of money for a long time. It will not be able to build the New Ross bypass, at an envisaged €350 million, for the next 20 years. I am shocked the Government did not move more quickly to stop Wexford County Council from buying the land for something that we cannot afford to build. The county council talks about spending over €12 million on land for that project before Christmas, although we cannot actually build the bypass. We are well aware of the fact that there is a shortage of money. It is pure nonsense to spend €12 million on land now. We have better things to be doing with €12 million. This project cannot go ahead in the next 20 years. If we are going to spend any money on this, we should consider an inner relief bridge, which will do the job, and forget completely about the 14 kilometre bypass.

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