Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is an insult and an injury to people who struggle every day. One person said to me this week, "It is not the lies that bother me, it is the insult to my intelligence". The Government has lost the middle ground and the public does not support it on this project. This week the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Harris, indicated the board would have to change. There has been a media frenzy with language ramped up against John Tierney but the Government has not done the real U-turn here. It has not had the humility to recognise that the public does not support this project. This is a mistake. People fear the prospect of the spiralling cost. They cannot shoulder the weight of this cost. This is a mess. The Government should have had the humility to come into this House and acknowledge that.

The absence of Government backbenchers this morning demonstrates that the Government does not have their support. They will be whipped in here today to go through the motions. The people do not support Irish Water. The Government does not have the support of the middle ground as it should know after the local elections and recent by-elections. The Government is so arrogant it does not recognise that this is a source of great concern for ordinary people. It must have the decency to put a halt to it, not just to ramp up negative back-briefing against the executives of Irish Water. It should be man and woman enough to say enough is enough, put an end to it and end people’s fear as they struggle to put food on the table every day. The cost is unacceptable. It is injuring society. The Government had the opportunity to do the right thing. It has so far failed to see or recognise that.

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