Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)

They said they would protect the vulnerable people in society. They have broken every promise they made. I do not believe what they are saying. If they want to conserve water, as they suggest, why do they not ensure the leaks are fixed before anything else is done? For every gallon of water that goes into a house, half a gallon is probably lost through leaks. Is it not obvious? When we talk about this whole debacle, we have to reflect on the uncertainty, misinformation and confusion associated with it. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, who is in charge of it, is fumbling from one disaster to another. The Government put the wrong man in charge of this project. The Minister should be taken away from it. If he touched gold, it would turn to dust. I want to voice my complete opposition to what the Government is doing. It is making a mess of our water service. It is changing something that was not actually broken. All that is wrong with the delivery of water in Ireland is that there are too many leaks. If they are fixed, everything else will be fine.

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