Results 6,921-6,940 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: That amendment makes it clear that one share shall be owned by Irish Water and the remaining shares shall be divided between the Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government, and Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Neither Minister can dispose of his or her share. We addressed this on Second Stage and I made it clear in a previous debate that there will not be...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Section 28 provides that the Minister may provide grants to Irish Water or to the Commission for Energy Regulation. Section 28(1) provides that these grants will be out of money provided by the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas has a vote in the budget so Senators have a direct say. The money cannot be passed if the Oireachtas does not agree to it and the amendment is unnecessary on those grounds.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Obviously, there are clear environmental and economic benefits that can accrue from reducing demand for water and the subsequent and expensive treatment of raw water for human consumption. Large-scale rainwater harvesting systems, as Members already have mentioned, already are used by some schools, factories and other buildings and have been incorporated into a number of private...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: It certainly is new information-----

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: ----- that meters encourage extra use, rather than reducing it. In essence, while there will not be grants for rainwater harvesting, there will be every incentive to reduce one's water consumption because one will be paying for what one uses. Therefore, it makes a great deal of sense to cut back and cut down. The reduction in demand also will have an impact on costs and for capital costs...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: For the Senator's information, this is purely an interim measure and it is not intended that this will continue for any length of time.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: As I stated-----

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: The Senator should not be.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Has anybody here ever bought a plastic bottle with a litre of water or drink in it? There is a thing called displacement. One can place a full litre bottle of water or stones in a cistern so that less water is needed to fill it but the toilet can still flush. People can do practical things like that to conserve water. In Ireland each person uses the equivalent of two full baths of water...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: Perhaps one might have to buy a plastic bottle full of water but that is fair enough. I talked about simple measures but the Senator has chosen to make a mountain out of a molehill. Senator Ó Clochartaigh is right, if we had the best of all worlds we would have the grant system. To put it simply, we do not have the money to do so. I can assure the House that everyone that I have...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: No, I did not.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: It is.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: They do not have to.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: No, let me repeat. I suggest that people keep the water tap switched off when brushing their teeth and turn it on when they wish to rinse. Simple measures like that will make a difference. There are hundreds of tips to conserve water. One can have all of the technology in the world but one does not need gadgets to use commonsense. Enough said.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I have not.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: That is not true.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: The Senator has experienced a rush of blood to the head.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I said that it was expensive to retrofit an existing house.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: I said that it was much cheaper to install a rainwater harvesting system when building a new house.

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2013)

Fergus O'Dowd: True.