Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach told us that he did not agree with a bonus culture and that those days were gone. Within days of that statement, the CEO of Irish Water confirmed that all of its staff had a bonus incentive included in their contracts. The Taoiseach also said charges would be fair and that children would have a free allowance, neither of which came to pass in the course of these famous U-turns. This is the Taoiseach who wants Ireland to be known as the best little country in the world in which to do business. No business person anywhere in the world would agree that investing €750 million in a white elephant and getting a return of €90 million is good business. No other functioning democracy would countenance the hames the Government has made of this. The Government concentrated on what it saw as the big picture of investing in infrastructure, while deflecting from the advice contained in the report it had commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers. It deflected that advice and what it was being told by the Opposition, its own backbenchers and, most importantly, the people.

There has been no analysis of the billions of euro that apparently need to be spent in the system. That figure seems to have been plucked from the sky. Two or three weeks ago the Taoiseach said in this House that €20 billion was required. Last week he said it was €10 billion. On the radio last night a Government Deputy was referring to €20 million. This debate should not conclude until such time as somebody with eminent qualifications or independent authority can inform the House of exactly what has to be spent, where it needs to be spent, how long the process will take and what system can be put in place. It is not good enough for this entity, this monster that is Irish Water, not to have a five year plan in place and to be still in a consultation phase in respect of its 25 year strategic plan. It is not good enough for the Taoiseach to talk about figures of €10 billion and €20 billion. We must have the facts on the table. The record will show that, with others, I have sought these facts since the first proposals were brought before the House. We sought an audit of the networks for rectification and reinstatement works - a clear setting out of what was to be done, how it was to be done and how much it would cost. We still do not have that information and that is not good business. We cannot run around the world saying this is the best small country in which to do business when we cannot even put that information on the table. The debate should not conclude until such time as it is placed before the House.

We do not know whether the first fix policy will cover lead pipes. I pause to observe that the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, has left the Chamber. The debate has not been guillotined, but the Minister has no interest in taking part in it. I said at the outset that I wanted this debate to be different from what went before. I want people to see that the democratic process is better than the Government wants us to believe it is. There should be a collective effort on the part of every Member of the House to resolve this issue properly and effectively. Maybe then the democratic process would be recognised by the public as something that works. After we have waited for 11 months and three weeks for everything to be put in front of us in such a way that we might begin to understand and question it, we see that the Minister with responsibility for the issue has walked out. He is nowhere to be seen.

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