Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, for attending and the Technical Group for allowing me to use some of its speaking time.

I propose to continue in the same vein as my contribution last night. The purpose of social welfare is to protect vulnerable people and ensure sufficient money is available to take care of people with particular needs such as the disabled, the elderly and those who are ill. The Government has done a great disservice to such persons by establishing Irish Water, on which it has wasted hundreds of millions of euro. When one includes the cost of the bureaucracy involved, the real cost of installing each water meter is between €800 and €1,000. How can the Minister of State stand over such waste, especially given the probability that none of the water meters will ever be read? This waste is occurring at a time when we are trying to save money and provide services for vulnerable people such as the disabled.

The Department is engaged in a witch hunt in which it seeks, through the review of entitlements, to cut off benefits to social welfare recipients. Under these so-called reviews, persons who receive a review letter and make a mistake in their responses, fail to submit sufficient information or miss the deadline for responding will have their payments cut. The individuals concerned are experiencing difficult and perhaps traumatic times in their lives through illness and other factors. A frightening number of my constituents are undergoing reviews and the position in my constituency is reflected throughout the country. It is similar to what occurred in the case of reviews of discretionary medical cards, on which the Government was forced to do a U-turn when it was given a kicking in the local and European elections. The practice is disgraceful. Why is the Department picking on vulnerable people by reviewing such a large number of cases and hurting so many when it has no problem in creating a monster, Irish Water, and wasting hundreds of millions of euro on it?

If the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach are running Irish Water, why does the company need a chief executive officer? What does the CEO do and why is he being paid if the Government is running the show and doing so many U-turns? The Government leaked figures for what would be the water charges. Its announcements on Irish Water depend on how many thousands of people protest on the streets. It expresses surprise that the mood among water protestors has turned to anger. While I do not agree with violence or nastiness, I can understand the reason for what has happened. The Tánaiste looked down her nose at people and taunted them about having excellent cameras in their mobile phones. What type of nonsense was that? Who, in the name of God, does the Tánaiste think she is in looking down on respectable people who engage in protests and making smart comments? The Government then wonders why people are outraged.

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