Results 3,821-3,840 of 10,577 for speaker:Barry Cowen

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: Not one cent was invested in the ground or any pipe. Following its series of U-turns, the Government has created he most inefficient billing method in the western world, which involves the Department of Social Protection administering a bizarre €180 million cash rebate scheme. The income from all of this will be €90 million. In addition, the Government has spent nearly double...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: Yes, it did. That was the figure given for four person households. Members opposite should look it up and do the maths.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: The Taoiseach told us that he did not agree with a bonus culture and that those days were gone. Within days of that statement, the CEO of Irish Water confirmed that all of its staff had a bonus incentive included in their contracts. The Taoiseach also said charges would be fair and that children would have a free allowance, neither of which came to pass in the course of these famous...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: I will go so far as to seek an adjournment of the Dáil until the Minister with responsibility for this matter returns to the Chamber to hear what we have to say. I assume the Minister has left to brief the media. His ministerial colleagues do not seem to know. One would have assumed they would know and have prepared properly and adequately for this debate. The Minister has been...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: Perhaps then we might have a proper debate.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for permitting the suspension of the debate for 45 minutes to allow time for the Minister to come back into the Chamber and participate in the debate. It also gives Members an opportunity to respond in a constructive fashion to the motion before the House. In addition, many questions may be asked, clarifications sought and propositions put, but ultimately...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: If the Minister clarifies that before the debate concludes, I will have no problem with that information being made available to the House. We will then make a decision on how we will vote thereafter. That is the process in which the Minister is engaged. It is the process of putting a motion before the House, as the Taoiseach well knows. I am glad to see him back to also participate in...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: I want that clarity and certainty, as does everybody else here, and we expect to get it. If the debate takes a week or a month we will wait for it. As I said earlier, in case the Taoiseach did not hear, I want to see the detailed analysis of what is required, how it will be done and the associated costs. The Taoiseach is on the record as saying one week it will cost €20 billion and...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: Flaky is the word. For once the Deputy got it right.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: The duty of the Opposition is to hold the Government to account and to offer constructive and competent alternatives. I and others have sought to hold this Government to account in this area in the past, but it has not been allowed by virtue of the guillotine. Our party has been consistently opposed to the establishment of Irish Water, to all it stands for and to all it has sought to do, as...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: That animal has turned into a monster. The public has no faith in it whatsoever. It has no traction, it is shot dead and people do not want to see or hear of it again. Against that background, the Minister should consider abolishing Irish Water.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: The Government continues to give it the sort of commitment it gave to Bord Gáis and where is that? It is gone.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: How much will the metering cost - €500 million? It is like the Olympics; it seems the Government will take them up and put them down every four years, given the way it proposes to deal with them.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: The Government, and more particularly the Members of the House, needs to look at other State bodies that have been successful in delivering multi-annual programmes on budget and on time. We have seen different arms of the State, such as the NTMA, where the remit was broadened beyond its initial responsibility for the national debt.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: Its remit was broadened to cater for pension reserves and the purchase of bonds. The NRA is another success story. It built up capacity with a tight management plan and executed successful implementation of multi-annual programmes across county boundaries. People have seen its ability to deliver and can see it as a success story in providing infrastructure throughout the country. Whether...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: It can be funded in many ways - on balance sheet, as was done for similar multi-annual programmes in the past, or through a public-private partnership, as has also delivered in the past. The completion of such a programme could take three, five, seven or ten years. We do not know how long it will take because we do not know the exact extent of spending that will take place. I acknowledge...

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: I will allow space and time to debate. I will not allow 11 months, which the Government has already had, but it is fair and reasonable to expect such information to be available to the House in the coming days.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: This has been, as many Deputies said, an unmitigated disaster.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: It is an unholy mess.

Water Sector Reforms: Motion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Barry Cowen: Despite the Government thinking it has solved the crisis today, it has done nothing of the sort. In respect of what remains of the debate, I ask that the Government engage in the process and allow it to be constructive, where the contributions of all Members are taken into consideration and where Members of all parties, and none, are allowed to make suggestions and provide alternatives to...