Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As for the decision, notwithstanding the fact that the funding for the Central Statistics Office comes via the Department of the Taoiseach, it is important that its independence be recognised publicly and acknowledged and I thank the Deputy for doing so. It is up to the CSO to set the parameters within which it carries out this very important work. I have given the example of how it does work for the Department of Social Protection on a monthly basis, but we do not see its figures until it announces them publicly. That is how it is with the CSO and EUROSTAT. The key is to address the needs of a proper functioning water service which will be at an affordable price, result in people coming off boil water notices and savings in dealing with leakages over time. On the capital and engineering programmes, one can already see savings of €70 million in the work that must be done at the Ringsend plant, for instance, on foot of the work Irish Water has commissioned consequent on taking a utility approach and looking at best practice in improving water and wastewater facilities.

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