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

I join other speakers in objecting vehemently to the inclusion of this section in the legislation. This is the democratically elected forum in which the spending of taxpayers' funds on behalf of taxpayers by the Government should be scrutinised. The mistake that was made, which precludes this forum from having any role into the future, was the passing of the first Water Services Bill. The funds used to set up Irish Water and to insert meters across the country, which combined came to the tune of €700 million, came from the National Pensions Reserve Fund when the Economic Management Council, that secret agent within the Cabinet, decided to use that route to fund this quango, this sorry debacle. That was the day this House was precluded from seeking answers as to how that fund was spent. We saw that 16 months ago when we asked many questions in the form of parliamentary questions and were informed that because of the way in which this entity was constructed and funded, this House - this authority, Oireachtas and forum that is representative of the Irish people - has no hand, act or part in questioning the way in which public funds have been spent in this area. That is the disaster that has been Irish Water since the get-go, since this sorry process began, and we are here today listening to what is nothing short of a sop to the public, to tell them that some quasi forum will resolve these issues. What role, prospect or indication is given within this section to allow for that petty forum? What accountability will it have? What questions will it be able to ask? Who will be obliged or accountable to it?

This mess began 18 months ago. The Government was offered the opportunity by virtue of the fact that it communicated to us that it was listening to us, the Opposition and the public. It eventually came out with one hand up and offered ten U-turns in an effort to appease the public, but it has not succeeded. It has failed abysmally again. This is one of the biggest disasters in the legislation. In is an effort by the Government to give the impression that it will continue to listen and take on board the suggestions that emanate from this forum, irrespective of who will be on it, and we do not know who will be on it.

The bottom line is that 166 people were elected to this House to act on behalf of the electorate, those who gave us the privilege to be here to question any spending of public funds by any Department and by any Minister lucky enough to be appointed by the Taoiseach. However, the way in which the Cabinet saw fit to set up this entity precluded any Member of this House getting information. The answers we get are that it is sensitive information and we cannot have information that emanates from it because of the way in which it was set up. That is ridiculous and, unfortunately, this charade will continue. I have no doubt that eventually there will be a review or probably a tribunal or an inquiry into the way this entity was set up, carried on and the loss of funds to the taxpayer that has carried on regardless. The Government is continuing along that road. The entity and the model it is using stands a fair chance of being rejected by the EUROSTAT test when we come to next March. The 44% subvention that it mentions is in danger by virtue of the figures we heard last night and by virtue of the fact that we will not have full compliance. That along with many other things will allow us to be back here again next March or April listening to plan B. It is unfortunate the Government will not give us any indication of what that plan might be. It will continue to keep people in the dark, and with the secrecy surrounding the spending taking place within this entity, this forum will get no closer than elected Members in this Chamber have got since this debacle began.

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