Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept the concept of metering and payment for the supply for water from the point of view of conservation of water, the maintenance of a proper infrastructure and general equity, but as I accept the principle, it is also important to have a robust household allowance system in place. That is provided for in the programme for Government and will be defined in a budgetary context each year. There must be an adequate household allowance.

I acknowledge the location of the regional headquarters of Irish Water in Cavan town and I am proud of that achievement. I am also proud of our county council team and former executives of the council who had an outstanding record in the delivery of water services and so on, which resulted in the headquarters being located in Cavan.

Our current team on the county council and past executives had an outstanding record in delivering water services. I am pleased, therefore, that the headquarters will be coming to Cavan.

While I acknowledge that difficulties arise for Dublin, it is important that local authorities continue to have a role in planning and that counties such as Cavan and Monaghan will have adequate resources to provide infrastructure for the maintenance and delivery of water services. Local democratic input is important and resources should be distributed to every corner of the country.

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