Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important issue. As we all know, water is vital, but we have seen many people use it as a political tool. It is a plentiful resource but, unfortunately, providing it to people in their taps requires much effort. I hope the result of what we have seen over the past while will be the start of a proper water service and that, like our broadband service, this service will be put together from scratch. We have worked on depreciation for the past number of years and have seen no investment in this critical infrastructure.

The people who pay for water already know the value of it. People might say it is a human right, but so too is food, which one does not get free. We have had to make huge efforts to ensure we have high-quality food. Now that this issue is settled and we have seen the very affordable proposals, I think people will appreciate what we have done and will say that in the longer term it is important to build up our infrastructure. That will take many decades and I hope it will provide much valuable employment for people.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and look forward to the results of the work we have done. I hope that in the future, when we have all moved on, what we have done in this regard will be recognised as something pivotal for this country that will be very valuable in the long-term.

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