Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is right in saying that the PricewaterhouseCoopers report produced prior to the setting up of Irish Water identified more than 4,000 jobs in the area. It also suggested that there would be job losses. Despite the Minister's statement that when the Department went through the figures it was not done on a county-by-county basis, the Minister should seek to have that information provided to the House.

In respect of the service level agreements being sought under the stewardship of Mr. Foley, what progress has been made? Can the Minister confirm that those agreements will only bring us to 2017? What indication can he give the House regarding permanency for staff beyond that date? It is important that we and, more importantly, the staff are aware of the long-term role they have. Will service level contracts between local authorities and Irish Water continue and will staff have incremental contracts rather than the permanency they now enjoy? Does the consultative body contain a public representative or someone who could act as a conduit between local authority members and the staff under their control, who will not be under their control in the future?

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