Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As an experienced Member of the Dáil, Deputy Fleming will know that on a whole range of issues, Ireland supplies information via the Central Statistics Office, which is absolutely independent, to EUROSTAT, which is also absolutely assured of its independence under European regulations. Some years ago, when Greece got into some difficulty in regard to budgetary information and so on, the fault was deemed to lie, to a degree, in the absence of an absolutely independent service in that country such as the CSO in Ireland and EUROSTAT on a European level.

Yesterday, as on the first Wednesday of every month, the unemployment figures, including the standard rate of unemployment, are issued. Even though I would see those figures on a weekly basis within Departments, they only become public statistics at such time as they are published, at about 11 a.m. or 11.30 a.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. When we saw yesterday a figure of 10.1% for the live register, that showed the CSO and, ultimately, EUROSTAT operating as they should, with independence. I do not know why Fianna Fáil Members seem to feel nervous about or critical of the independence of these institutions. The latter are crucial to how we function in terms of our statistics and the same applies at European level.

This does not at all change what is happening in regard to Irish Water. We have a situation where very deficient water and sewerage services were provided by 34 separate local authorities across the country. In the wake of the long debate we have had, almost everybody now agrees that the way this service was organised was not fit for purpose. It led to very significant leakages and households being placed on boil water notices. It led to a failure to provide our largest city, Dublin, and its surrounding areas with an adequate supply of water, as was the case in many other parts of the country.

When the statistics and data in respect of Irish Water are sent to the European Union, it is done via the CSO and EUROSTAT, because they are independent bodies. That is the essence of the exercise. I am not sure whether Deputy Fleming is contesting their independence. The fact that the timelines may be shorter or longer is entirely a matter for those independent bodies, not a matter for the Government. The Deputy should welcome and endorse their independence.

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