Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----Big Phil, the former Minister. We called him the enforcer. He left a mess behind. He is on his fat pension now in the EU and he comes back an odd time to the ploughing match and other events and tells us what he is doing for Ireland. It is a whole unmitigated mess. I opposed the setting up of Irish Water with might and main because there was no need for it in the first place. I saluted the county councils throughout the country, the group water schemes, the group scheme providers and the private individuals who had wells for all the infrastructure they had. One would swear that when Irish Water came along there was not a pipe, reservoir, stopcock or tap but we are all going to the well to draw water with buckets and barrels and herding the cows into the river. Insulting language was used at the time to denigrate what the councils had not done. Every county councillor was insulted, as was every council official. I worked with many good officials in my own county. All the pioneers of the group schemes were also insulted. All and sundry were insulted. A mighty instruction was given.

The board was set up with former county managers who had retired on pensions and retired departmental officials on pensions. We did not have any of the group scheme co-ordinators or the people from rural water schemes. It was a cosy cartel. It was manna from heaven for the serial board members and the serial organisers who organised complete chaos. That is why there was so much resistance from the public. I do not say I supported any of the resistance that took place whereby working people were intimidated, bullied, threatened and spat at by so-called Right2Water campaigners who bullied and threatened them in their homes while the Garda was in the middle trying to keep the peace. There is no place for that in a modern democracy. What happened the former Minister, Deputy Burton, in Jobstown should not have happened. It has no place in a democracy but it is still promoted by some of the parties present. We see tonight a group of women who had abortions, whom we met today-----

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