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

I accept the Minister's answer and hear what he is saying. Unfortunately, towards the end of last year we were informed that by February or March we would have a resolution to this issue and a decision by EUROSTAT. The Minister is obviously not aware of the reason for the delay because he believes the Government has adhered to all the rules.

In the absence of legislation to give effect to stronger powers on the part of Irish Water to get payment from those who refuse to pay, when does the Minister expect to introduce legislation to give more powers to Irish Water in that regard? Is EUROSTAT awaiting the outcome of that process? Irish Water then will be perceived to have an absolute income stream, which is currently absent, in the form of adequate legislation to empower it to force people to pay, which goes against the commitment the Minister gave previously that no enforcement would be forthcoming in the form of turning off taps and so forth.

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