Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I asked whether he agreed with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. Two Ministers, one former and one current, have essentially said Irish Water is a mess. The former Minister of State said it was an unmitigated disaster. The current Minister said there were serious errors in the company’s establishment - essentially a mess - and that he was not a member of the former Cabinet, even though he was a Minister of State then, but that this one must get it right.

He is blaming the Taoiseach. I asked him if he was correct in blaming the Taoiseach and the former Minister, Mr. Phil Hogan, now an EU Commissioner. From 2000 onwards, €5 billion was spent on water infrastructure. I am a former Minister with responsibility for enterprise and the one thing we were never questioned about was our capacity to supply water. We have attracted some of the most complex bio-pharmaceutical plants to the country and pharmaceutical clients. One only has to go to Ringaskiddy or visit the medical devices cluster in Galway to see this. I know that the system needs improvement and advances, but it is not quite the feudal or mediaeval structure the Taoiseach likes to portray it as from time to time. If it was, we would never have attracted these industries in the first instance. I know that we beat other countries because of the superiority of our utilities, be it energy or water. The Taoiseach needs to have a balanced perspective on that issue also instead of frightening the life out of people.

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