Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

By the way, it measures the amount of water in the pipes going into the area, rather than the amount of water between the meter and the household. It is more effective. A much smaller number of meters is needed. It is much cheaper. Did the Economic Management Council discuss things like that? Can the Taoiseach confirm that Siemens offered to do the whole thing much more cheaply? I understand it offered to do it for free. I have a big question. What was the procedure for giving the contract for the metering to GMC Sierra? Were all the procedures complied with fully? Some serious questions need to be asked about the process of tendering this out. Did it fully comply with the protocols for outsourcing these things? It appears that there were cheaper offers. I am not in favour of metering at all, but it seems that there was a ready-up in terms of who was going to get the contract.

My fundamental point is about how the Economic Management Council, EMC, has got it wrong. Has that not been proven by what we have seen on the streets and what we will see there again tomorrow? Will the Taoiseach go outside and listen to people tomorrow when they tell him that the EMC got it wrong?

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