Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the things we need to keep in mind, arising from Deputy Catherine Murphy's amendment, and indeed from the section, is that it is true that as Deputy Broughan has just said, perhaps we did not think about the issue properly. Perhaps we have spent a lot of time thinking about it, but we did not do a whole lot about it. Whether we like it or not, for the past 20 years it was obvious that there was a need for a carefully constructed body to deal with water supply in this country. There is no good in saying we will do it the old way because that did not work. To be fair to local authorities, they struggled to provide a quality water supply. The big problem was there was no central authority except the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. We have seen other countries across Europe change their tactics in this area.

4 o’clock

A debate similar to this one took place in the neighbouring jurisdiction when it introduced changes in this area. During that debate, various queries and theories were put forward as to whether the new system would do the job it was intended to do. Notwithstanding whether it did so, the job still has to be done by somebody.

While it is dangerous to agree with the Opposition, I concur with the views expressed by Deputy Cowen. As Deputy Broughan will attest, the Government side rarely agreed with me when I sat on the Opposition benches.

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