Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I seek clarity on the water issue. According to Irish Water's own projections, water services will only have been marginally improved by 2021, but the taxpayer will end up paying more. By that point, Irish Water will have spent approximately €8 billion. There is still time to consider setting all of this aside to establish a proper water service funded from general taxation and under public control. The Taoiseach cited in his response Omeath in the Cooley Mountains area in my constituency. I remember long before I was a Deputy helping neighbours in Glenmore to run Wavin pipes up to the slopes of Slieve Foy to the springs and streams and doing the same in the rocky ground below the Long Woman's Grave. The fact is that whatever has been developed there was developed by the people themselves sinking their own wells, via group schemes running water down from the mountain, or by the local authority. We need to be real about all of this. The Government has made a hames of the issue and keeps digging a hole for itself on it.

Returning to the issue of climate change, the Taoiseach said in a humorous aside that he could not be expected to restrain the good cows from fulfilling their natural functions. It is fair to say that is outside the Taoiseach's power. Of all the things I would like the Taoiseach to do, that is not one. Nappies for our bovine herd are beyond the Taoiseach's ability. However, if I remember correctly, and the Taoiseach may correct me if I am wrong whereupon I will withdraw the remark, the Taoiseach made a wonderful speech about climate change at the UN. He then returned to Europe and sought all sorts of exemptions. The Taoiseach knows that the atmosphere and the oceans have warmed, the amount of snow and ice has diminished, sea levels have risen and the concentration of greenhouse gases has increased. That is going to become more common and more severe in the time ahead. What I am looking for is a sense of whether the climate change committee has discussed the impact of climate change here, the impact of the dramatic changes in weather patterns, their implications for the future and what measures have been brought forward to minimise greenhouse gases and develop a green economy.

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