Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a couple of quick points. I echo what Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett has said. The European Union has taken us for fools, as has the Government in turn. This is an island and the shoreline has always been in the ownership of the State and will remain so.

Water is an essential element for the life of the people living in the State. Therefore, it should absolutely be constitutionally within the ownership of the State and the people of Ireland. It is very simple. Off-balance-sheet financing is being used to try to fund an entity which will require approximately €10 billion to have it in working order, fix leaks, have proper reservoirs and capacity and water treatment plants. Here is a suggestion: if the Government showed a bit of courage and capability it would say to Draghi and the EU Commission that €25 billion of misplaced losses on the Irish people would be corrected and that €10 billion of it would be allocated in the first instance to the water supply and €15 billion to other capital projects in education, the health system, which is buckling, to support people who do not even have homes and to build homes. This €25 billion would go a long way and it should be used immediately. The bonds should be cancelled. It would give the necessary boost and resources to any Government to start the work of fair reconstruction of this country. The shoreline is always in the ownership of the State and water should always be in the ownership of the State. It is that simple.

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