Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I place myself, obviously, as Head of Government. The Government made the decision to set up Irish Water and it was the correct decision to make. The Government also made the decision to not have every local authority involved, with a different standard of provision of water and the difficulties that they all encountered. That is the correct decision. The regime that is in place at present with the regulator means, for instance, that bills are capped at €278 for a couple with two children, but also that if the bill is less than that there is an incentive for the consumer to pay that lesser bill. The regulator will make his comments about that in due course.

As I stated yesterday, Irish Water has not done itself justice in pointing out what it is doing in terms of its capital programme of €1.2 billion to deal with 126 treatment works that are not up to standard across many other areas of the country. This is a public entity. Fears that this will be privatised or sold are wrong, unfounded and without base. It is the law. This is the provision of a public entity to invest in infrastructure so that consumers can have high standards of production and good quality water monitored by the regulator, who has already stated that he wants a reduction in its cost base by 8% by the end of 2016, including a substantial amount in respect of pay and salaries.

This is a case where there are challenges still ahead and we hope to deal with those clearly so that consumers can have confidence that this is a necessary facility and their contribution will go for what it is intended for many decades to come, including investment in infrastructure, the production of high-quality water, treatment works that stand up to scrutiny, and a service to consumers that is not like the service provided in this city at present, where the service can go wrong and is constantly on a knife-edge. I hope we can deal with all of those in the short period ahead.

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