Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Dublin people do not have to be reminded of the need for a national utility to oversee the supply of water. Dubliners have had to endure lengthy interruptions in supply on no less than three occasions in recent times, including in the run-up to Christmas. The establishment of Irish Water is about ensuring security and safety of supply in a context where we have seen a chronic lack of investment in the past 20 years. Deputy Coffey referred to the expenditure associated with PPARS and electronic voting. He forgot to mention the so-called Bertie Bowl, the vanity project of the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. Deputy Finian McGrath spoke critically of the lack of investment in water infrastructure. I wonder whether the issue of investment in water for the Dublin area arose when he was doing the grubby little deal with Mr. Ahern which helped to keep the latter in power.

It is completely unacceptable that the Fianna Fáil motion should criticise what its Members have described as an overspend by Irish Water. No facts have been established to back up that claim. In fact, all of the information provided to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht on Tuesday indicates that the set-up costs were benchmarked below the international norm. There has been a great deal of heat and noise generated on this issue, much of it stemming from Fianna Fáil. It is largely a case of fake outrage. We must keep in mind certain key points. When representatives of Bord Gáis briefed the environment committee in November 2012 on the establishment of Irish Water, not one question was put to them by Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin or the Independents on the issue of establishment costs. I checked the Official Report this morning to confirm that. The Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, who is in the Chamber today, attended a meeting of the Select Sub-Committee on Environment, Community and Local Government in July 2013 to discuss the forthcoming legislation. Again, the Opposition failed to raise the issue of the establishment costs of Irish Water.

Members opposite are full of concern now, but they had two clear opportunities to raise these matters and failed to do so. The first time the issue of the asset management register was raised was when my colleague, Deputy Coffey, referred to it at the meeting in July. We learned on Tuesday that the major part of the spend by IBM relates to the establishment of that register, which will be a critical tool in directing further investment. What we are seeing here is a failure by the Opposition to use the opportunities available to it to raise questions about Irish Water. As the record of the Dáil shows, I was the first Deputy to raise, by way of parliamentary question, the issue of consultancy costs relating to the establishment of the new utility. I am glad Members opposite read my questions and build on my work.

The Fianna Fáil motion concludes with a call for Irish Water to be subject to the freedom of information regime. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, made clear last November that this would be done. As Members opposite are aware, the legislation amending the freedom of information provisions is still going through the Houses. As part of its reform of the parliamentary process, this Government introduced a system of pre-legislative scrutiny, to which the freedom of information proposals were subjected at the finance committee. Colleagues and I repeatedly raised the need for Irish Water to be subject to the freedom of information regime. I am glad the Minister has given a strong commitment in this regard, having taken on board the views of backbenchers, and I am sure the provisions will apply retrospectively.

The Opposition seems to be more interested in stunts than it is in the hard work of legislative scrutiny and parliamentary inquiry through the committee system. Fianna Fáil Members have called for a national audit of the water system and a comprehensive investment programme. It seems to have escaped their notice that this is exactly what Irish Water is doing. An asset management system is crucial to identifying the right places to invest and the cost of that investment. I have been in politics since 1999, during which time we have seen continual cuts in the water supply in the Dublin area and the issuing of numerous boil notices throughout the country. In this motion, we see a failed Opposition criticising a Government that wants to do something about these problems. The Fianna Fáil Party should take its failure home and withdraw the pointless motion it has put forward.

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