Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have heard these arguments. We do not have options of the scale to which he referred. However, that is not to say we should not be implementing some of the measures he mentioned to a larger degree. I agree with him completely about conservation. It is a necessity that we, as a society, adopt a similar approach in our conservation policy to that which pertains to recycling. The Government will take further measures on this in the coming months and years.

The real issue is that the level of investment required across the State to meet the requirements is colossal. Billions of euro will be required over the next number of years to begin dealing with the problems we have with water infrastructure in the country. It would be impossible to be in compliance with the directive if we did not adopt our current approach.. Look what is happening in Arklow, where a case is being taken due to the fact that there is raw sewage running into the Avoca river.

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