Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The most important assurance is that the money is available. It is a pity that I did not get a chance to bring in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The key thing we need to do is a ten-year programme with a figure like the €1.6 billion. That is as well as the money spent on housing, education, health, transport and all the other areas.

The public payment of those sorts of sums on a year in, year out basis in a systematic way is the only way. You cannot magic it up without having the budget. The key comprises the national development plan and the large, continuous, multi-annual programmes of work so there can be efficiencies in how Irish Water deploys its resources. I know the area in Gweedore. It is such a beautiful location. It is a rural area with a large population, so it needs the resources. However, so too does every other area in the country. The best way of guaranteeing the resources is guaranteeing the money.

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