Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Chuir 39 Ball den Seomra seo a n-ainmeacha leis an rún seo, mé féin san áireamh, agus rinneamar é sin ar son na ndaoine a chur muid isteach sa Dáil. Is iadsan na daoine céanna a chur Fianna Fáil isteach, mar gheall an páirtí sin an rud ceannann céanna. Tá sé thar am deireadh a chur leis an gcur i gcéill agus tá sé thar am deireadh a chur le hUisce Éireann.

I have never been happy demonising or criticising the staff of Irish Water. I have no time for that type of politics. They have been used and abused by the previous Government and the new Government continues to do so. It is time to put an end to the failed entity which has been rejected by the people. The vast majority of us were put in here because we promised that to the people, including Fianna Fáil. It really is time that we saw some sign of the new politics in this Chamber, where words mean something. The biggest problem we encountered on the doorsteps as we canvassed was that people simply have no faith in the political process any more. They see it as utterly removed from them and they cannot trust a word that comes out of our mouths.

I ask Fianna Fáil Party Members to put a meaning to the language they use in this Chamber when they talk about a new era, new co-operation and a new language. I also ask them to stand with the people, not in a populist manner, but because the people saw through Irish Water and, more importantly, they saw through what the Government was doing in relation to Irish Water, namely, setting up an entity with a view to the privatisation of the most fundamental service we require – water.

I have no difficulty with paying my taxes in return for services and neither do I have any difficulty working with any Member in this Chamber on the conservation of water. We have very good experience in Galway of recycling and we led the way in that regard. On more than one occasion I used the example of where we had a wonderful service in Galway. On an ongoing basis we had a 56% diversion from landfill to recycling. In a pilot project, we diverted 70% to recycling but what happened? They privatised the service. We were the second last local authority service in the country to be privatised and we have a mess on our hands at the moment in terms of the collection of waste. I will be penalised because I have three compost bins in the garden. That is the exact same parallel and the same reasoning that was being used with Irish Water. It is time to stop and to stand together and say water is extremely important and we need to resource it and conserve it. I sat in the city council in Galway for almost 17 years and I watched good engineers and very good staff come under extraordinary pressure because of the lack of resources and money. I saw water polluted. I experienced cryptosporidium myself. As I speak, 8,000 people in Carraroe cannot drink their water. We know the facts in Galway city. We are not trying to evade our responsibilities. We are trying to take them on board and to work in a positive way.

I appeal to Fianna Fáil, even at this late hour, to see sense. Let us lead. We do not need to penalise people in order for them to conserve. We have shown that in Galway. Penalties do not work, and humans by their nature are good. They need encouragement and example and we are not showing that example. The entity of Irish Water has been rejected. Any entity that could spend €400,000 of taxpayers’ money in seeking to find out what the people of the country thought of them in various polls is an obscenity. I do not blame Irish Water for that. The staff of Irish Water are under extraordinary pressure to follow Government policy. The word obscenity does not describe an entity that could spend €80 million on consultants, at a time when water pours out of leaking pipes and water sources are polluted. I find it insulting to be told we are negative when we give a different view. The groupthink in this country is what led to the mess and the banking crisis. Many times various judges, including retired judges, have pointed out that if there was less groupthink and more questions answered we would not have scandal after scandal. We will discuss the O’Higgins report tomorrow, which has the exact same thread running through it. I happily and proudly support the motion. Tá sé thar am deireadh a chur leis an gcur i gcéill agus tá sé thar am beart a dhéanamh de réir ár mbriathair.

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