Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remind the House that approximately 20,000 people in my county of Roscommon are on boil-water notices for too long to remember. A previous speaker said that the local authorities were the right people to provide the service but my local authority failed the people of County Roscommon. Many local authorities were provided with significant funding by the previous Fianna Fáil Government and I ask why are 20,000 people out of the population of 50,000 in County Roscommon are still on boil-water notices. Is it morally right that they have to pay for water unfit for human consumption? Is it morally right that they have to boil their tap water to prepare food, wash their hands and brush their teeth? People who are affected cannot drink water directly from the tap. It is unacceptable that families and children must put up with this situation, some of whom have been dealing with it for more than ten years. Where were the local councillors and the local authorities for the past ten years? They said nothing because they assumed that the local authority was getting the funding and doing the work.

The approach to water quality in this country does not add up. People are objecting to septic tank inspections. Most of the septic tanks in rural areas in County Roscommon are seeping into our water supply. We want clean water but then we resist septic tank inspections; we cannot have it both ways.

I am delighted with the good news last October when the then Minister, Phil Hogan, came down to Roscommon and announced that the investment was happening. He announced the provision of €16 million for the five water treatment plants in Roscommon in Boyle-Ardcarne, Kelleglan in south Roscommon and Castlerea. Nobody took any heed because it was good news and it was not a story. However, one week later, a Deputy who has happily gone to Europe, brought a glass of water into the Chamber and asked how anyone could drink that water. That was the good story. That man did not say much before that but unfortunately, nobody wants good news or to hear of anything being done; all they want is good news. The good news is that the water treatment plants are under construction. I hope that we will have good infrastructure and good water for our people in the coming months. It is unacceptable that we have been let down.

There are currently 31 public water supplies under restriction, affecting approximately 26,000 people, 20,000 in my own county. Where were the local councillors and the local councils? They were getting the money and they did nothing. I wish to put on the record of the House that the then Minister, Phil Hogan, delivered the money to address that situation. This has not been recognised. The installation of water meters has created jobs.

It is proposed that households with an impaired water supply for less than a period of three months will receive a 50% discount on their water charge.

Households with supplies that are impaired for more than three months will receive a 100% discount. I am delighted with this, particularly as I highlighted in a submission I made to the CER the fact that households in Roscommon should not be obliged to pay.

Our democracy has reached a very difficult stage. Democracy involves doing what one believes to be for the common good. Three years ago, journalists from RTE camped outside Roscommon County Hospital in the county in which I live and interviewed people who stated that individuals were going to die or that the facility was going to close. Some 50 lives have been saved and no one has died. The hospital is busier and patients are safer. A new wing - the endoscopy building - is currently being constructed and I invite members and reporters from RTE and other media outlets to come to visit it. The new building - it might be called the Frank Feighan Endoscopy Building - is only there because I stayed around to ensure it would become a reality. However, nobody is paying any heed to its construction. The RTE journalists to whom I referred earlier camped outside Roscommon County Hospital for three months listening to stories from unqualified people whose accounts went unverified. When it became evident that everyone had got it wrong, these journalists moved on. No one should take my word in respect of this matter. I invite Deputy Cowen and anyone else who wishes to do so to visit the hospital and ask the consultants and other medical staff whether the hospital is busier, whether patients are safer and whether lives have been saved. The answers to each of these three questions will be "Yes."

Another issue that arises in this regard is turf-cutting. Around 1,000 people in County Roscommon are being paid €1,500 per year, tax-free and index-linked, for a period of 15 years. This adds up to a total of €23,000 for each of them. They are being paid this money - and rightly so - as a result of the fact that their turf-cutting rights relate to lands that are part of special areas of conservation. Eighty-five percent of those people have been relocated from natural heritage areas, NHAs, as a result of the great work that has been done with Europe in this regard. All of the work to which I refer was done behind the scenes and, as a result, all one hears from people is that what is happening is awful.

These issues are being addressed but, unfortunately, all the local and national media want to report on are sad stories. I am of the view that journalists and reporters should revisit particular areas after the story has moved on in order to discover exactly what has happened. As already stated, no one has been back to investigate what happened in the case of water supplies. In that context, €17 million was allocated to the construction of five different treatment plants in a county that needed them. One week after the relevant announcement was made, a man who had never previously commented on this matter decided to enter the Chamber with a glass of dirty water and place it in front of one of the then Ministers of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. As a result, everyone began discussing the safety of water supplies, and rightly so, particularly as businesses, families and so on have been affected. In the town in which I live - Boyle, County Roscommon - there are currently boil-water notices in place. This problem has been allowed to drag on for far too long. However, it must be noted that the Government has provided funding in order to ensure that people will have access to clean water. I reiterate that local authorities let us down in respect of this matter. As Deputy Cowen is aware, those authorities were allocated many millions of euro in funding but they failed to address the matter in the correct way.

I am of the view that we are going down a very dangerous road. The Government has a job to do and every action has its consequence. There are those who state that they are not going to pay water charges. If they do not do so, who will pay? We need rational politicians who will tell the people the truth. We do not need individuals who merely wish to go on local radio and so on in order to shout about things being awful. We must work together in order to try to deliver the best services possible for the people. Reforms are taking place, but if we continue down this road, the political system will not be able to meet the wishes of a demanding electorate. That electorate will eventually overload the State with demands and it will then seek a strong leader. In the 1930s, those in Germany sought a strong leader and they got one. This difference between remaining a democracy and descending into anarchy is very small. I accept that mistakes have been made but I again say that we must work together. I do not know whether it was a result of the boom, but in the past ten years people's expectations - I include my own - have reached a level at which they cannot be addressed by the State alone. Effectively, people are being told everything they want to hear - namely, that they should not pay and that they should protest. Eventually, we must stand firm and tell them the truth.

Two months ago, the previous Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, visited Roscommon County Hospital in order to launch the construction project for the new endoscopy building. On the day he visited, there was a protest outside the hospital. Said protest was aimed at a man who had allocated €20 million in funding to this project and others. One would not see the like on an episode of "Killinaskully". However, that is the road we are going down. I am extremely proud that I am part of a Government team that is standing up and delivering for this country. Will I receive thanks for this? Probably not, but I remain proud of the fact that we have made a difference. The figures released by the CSO earlier today will provide a little more encouragement to people. Fine Gael and the Labour Party have accepted the difficult challenges and made the hard decisions. When the penny eventually drops, the people will come to realise this.

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