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

Some €85 million was spent on consultants that the Tánaiste did not know anything about, yet she sat idly by not knowing what was going around her at the Cabinet table. That is not a ball of smoke. Some €500 million has now been spent on water metering, and that is not a ball of smoke. The almost €50 million a year that is being paid towards servicing the costs of that is not a ball of smoke either. I asked the Tánaiste a question but she failed to answer it. She is good at that, but she will be held accountable whether she likes it or not.

In any contract that I or others in this Chamber have seen, the Tánaiste has no guarantee - none whatsoever - that the installed water meters will last beyond 15 years. She should not try to tell me that they will last 20, 30, 40 or 50 years, because she does not know, no more than I do. That is the ball of smoke she is talking about.

Putting the associated spending to one side, we should also consider the debacle in our hospitals, as well as care for the elderly, community care and our home help situation. Does the Tánaiste think that is money well spent? Can she stand over this while people cannot get the care and assistance they need and want in their homes so that communities can prosper in some shape or form? The Tánaiste has abandoned the commitments she made to rural areas. She should not try to tell me that it is a ball of smoke. I am here on behalf of the constituents I represent, together with those of my colleagues, who wish to tell the Tánaiste for the umpteenth time that this has been a massive debacle which continues unabated. The secrecy associated with it continues too because neither the Tánaiste nor the manufacturer can guarantee that those meters will last a day beyond 15 years. She should not therefore tell me that the €50 million annual expenditure is a ball of smoke when she cannot guarantee that she will not have to spend a further €500 million to replace the meters.

See this speech in context