Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad that Deputy Brian Stanley has started his contribution again. The water conservation grant is very welcome in rural Ireland and I am sure the Deputy is well aware of this across counties Laois and Tipperary and everywhere esle. Many hundreds of thousands in group water schemes and with wells will have the opportunity to use the grant to service their wells or invest in technologies to bring water to their homes or buy water butts, for example. The Deputy may be aware that the grant has stimulated thoughts about the development of a range of new products and services which people will purchase. People are now more aware of the need for the conservation of water, which is surely a good development. Deputies of all hues talk about the need to conserve water. I have met a number of people who are defining technologies and services which they believe must be made available throughout Ireland. The grant has been welcomed across the country and it will help to motivate people to think about technology and services they will use to conserve water. It is not just customers of Irish Water who are thinking along these lines but also those in group schemes. They have been the unsung heroes for many years when it comes to the professionalisation of water services. I met representatives of group scheme operators on a number of occasions. I also meet them organically in my work and they have consistently shown that water supplied through group schemes is of a high standard, which is credit to the dedication, work and effort of such schemes across the country. Some of the finest water is to be found in very large schemes, which has been the case for many generations.

The water conservation grant has been well received, particularly so in rural Ireland and by group schemes on the basis that they are being treated in the same way as everyone else, which is as it should be because they have been paying for water for many decades. People living in rural areas know the value of water, the value of the technology used and the effort it takes to get clean water into their houses. They know that it does not just appear out of the tap all of a sudden, that infrastructure has to be created for it to be supplied.

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