Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has advocated that, on people's private property and within the house, every leak should be resolved by the State. It would cost an absolute fortune to the taxpayer and I am interested to know the level of income tax or general taxation that would be required to meet that bill. We are certainly not going to do that as part of the first fix policy.

Some €25 million is being spent in County Roscommon to deal with water quality problems that have been neglected for years, and the issue will be resolved for 50% of the population. It is interesting to note that despite all the talk from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, not one member of those parties made a submission to the CER as part of the public consultation process. It is all talk and no action from the Opposition. We are doing the business for the people of Roscommon and other parts of the country but Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin made no submission with regard to water quality, the boil water notices or their concerns. We will get on with the job in order that we have a public water utility that is able to borrow money on the market to double the level of investment and deal with the under-investment in water and wastewater facilities that we inherited from the Fianna Fáil-led Government. We will discharge our obligations under the water regulations and I am glad to assure the House that no risk to public health arises from the issues in the media yesterday. Deputy Cowen is led by whatever he reads in the newspapers.

See this speech in context