Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. When he referred to schemes and local communities, it is important to remember that we are talking about volunteers. We are not talking about the head of Irish Water and others who are paid huge amounts of money. Those involved are volunteers within their communities. They are tired and worn out, and need to resolve this issue. When the Minister of State says that they need to resolve any difficulties, they cannot pay money out of their own pockets to deal with legacy debt. If the legacy debt can be dealt with the schemes can be taken over. The legacy debt is holding everything up. I am afraid that the work will be done on the schemes and by the time the takeovers come around, systems will need to be upgraded. The work needs to happen now. What has to be done is time sensitive.

Regarding farmers, we cannot have a situation whereby small farmers are being charged for five or six connections just because the layout of their land covers five or six different plots. With the Minister of State please get Irish Water to go to before Mayo County Council and show a bit of respect for councillors and the mandate they have been given?

See this speech in context