Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some 500,000 houses across the country are on group water schemes. They did not need a forum; they just rolled up their sleeves and got together. There was no huffing or puffing when they quietly put such water structures together in rural areas with the help of an organisation called the Water Federation. Water is a pretty simple commodity to handle, but we have made the task laborious over the past year.

It can be sourced, treated, piped to a house and then consumed. People did this work voluntarily around the country, yet we are now talking about creating forums. It is like dreaming up ideas. On one occasion, I naively joined a forum and after three or four meetings I saw that it had become a talking shop. To be quite frank, I got to hell out of it because it was only people talking and drawing expenses. I read later that some people were even paid a salary, but the nitty-gritty was not discussed. I saw people appointed to a forum who knew as much about the issues they were discussing as I know about the moon.

In addition, the terms of reference are restrictive. It is like being in a barrel with nowhere to turn. One is in a confined space and if one talks about anything beyond that, it is not listened to. The proposed public forum is basically being established so that a Minister can hide behind it. I am not saying that the current Minister would do so, but some future Minister could hide behind the facility.

A Teachta Dála is a messenger of the people. If Deputies cannot raise issues with the Minister - without having 60 more people talking in a forum - and get them sorted, then something is seriously wrong. The old saying is that "He who pays the piper calls the tune". The buck ultimately stops with the Minister. The forum may be there but there is no statutory obligation on the Minister to take its views on board.

It is like appeasing people and saying: "Look, this is a great idea. We're going to set this up so that everyone's voice will be heard." The reality, however, is that most forums set up over the years have only been talking shops. Ministers go on television and say they will set up such forums, but they do not listen to everything they come up with. Such a forum is just a way out - a gate from the field to the road.

I ask the Minister to reconsider the idea of a forum. He should remember that the word of a Teachta Dála, the messenger of the people, should be listened to more.

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