Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

From the outset of the whole debate on water, I have said we should have a referendum. It would have put a lot of things into perspective. Billions of euro have been spent putting the infrastructure into the ground. Having said that, I still claim that we need one authority over water for the simple reason that multiple authorities have not worked down through the years. It is not popular to say, but I have seen in my area that problems and upgrades are addressed much more quickly than they ever were before.

People must remember that we can talk about water as long as we want, but at the end of the day the regulations relating to water are growing in number. Various regulations are coming out from Europe and they are harder to meet and result in higher costs. It comes from the sky and goes into a lake or river but when one has to treat it, it costs money. The one thing I do not condone is wasting water. In this whole debate on water, the group water schemes throughout the country have been completely forgotten. If something is being done on water, those people must be protected. They do this on a completely voluntary basis in those areas nationally where people pay for a certain amount of their water. Local people in local communities do a great deal of work but their money was cut. The subvention needs to be restored and the infrastructure must be protected.

Taking water from the River Shannon is being mooted. As with wind, gas or electricity generation, there is no problem providing water for every part of the country. It is not something we are putting our hands around and minding. However, investment should be made in return in those areas from which resources are being taken. Let the following be clear to every politician in the House, given the projected cost if bringing water to Dublin of €600 million to €700 million. Given the amount of infrastructure needed around the country, whether it is within budgets or in a charge, we must face the fact that €3 billion to €4 billion must be invested in our water infrastructure over the next number of years. Politicians need to address that situation and get real about it.

See this speech in context