Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

The Minister has insisted that his only concern is to ensure private water treatment systems are working. The question, however - this is the crux of the matter, as we have pointed out from the beginning - is what standard will apply in this regard. That is the question we are reasonably asking. The Minister said that people should tell the truth. That is what we are doing, but the Minister is telling us nothing. There is a vacuum of proper information.

The Minister went on to say in that interview that he intended to treat the inspection regime in a light-touch fashion. However, it is not he who will be carrying out individual inspections. That responsibility is to be handed to an independent organisation whose representatives the Minister has refused to allow us to bring before the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht to outline the standards that will apply in respect of inspections. The Minister further claimed that people in rural areas do not pay for water and sewerage treatment. I do not know what happens in Carlow and Kilkenny, but when people in Limerick connect to Limerick County Council's water supply, they must pay to do so.

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