Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle allowing me back in to contribute as I had to leave the House. I do not disagree with one word of the Minster's comments about the employees on the ground who have been intimidated and threatened, which is unacceptable, and the staff elsewhere in the company, even though I am fundamentally opposed to Irish Water. We all have stories about that.

I am concerned about the language the Minister has used about this issue and his reference to retrospection and asking the board to do the work that clearly should be set out in these amendments regarding the pay structures, performance pay and the bonus culture. He said that if he had been in office when the legislation was introduced, this would not have happened. There might be a different Minister in the office in two years. This is only a case of "live horse and you'll get grass" and the public will not accept that. This is the forum in which to deal with the legislation and whatever expertise the Minister provides for on the board, they will be faced with the legislation as passed by the House. They will say they cannot change the structures. That is not good enough and the public will not accept that. We are trying to make the legislation acceptable to the public but they will not accept that and that should be clear to all of us. We are here to amend the legislation and this is the opportunity, given all the time we are giving to it, including possibly sitting next week, to get it right. We did not get it right last week.

The Minister stated Irish Water cannot under any circumstances take on any financial liability. This is a one way street. The company gets all the properties rate free-----

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