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

The Government never accepted that there was a need for adequate and proper scrutiny of the legislation that accompanied its set up. As I stated, there is no local political accountability. Counsellors, who have the best interests of the localities in which they reside and where they have the privilege to represent those people, like the people themselves, have been cut adrift by this Government. The Government needs to revisit that legislation, if nothing else to address this issue because I have seen it in Kilkenny too, where a group sewage scheme was initially costing €560,000 when it could be combined with a road works programme to deliver sewage schemes to 60 people living in that location and it is now at a cost of €1.2 million. They cannot afford it and it will not happen.

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