Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State.

Part of our current problem stems from the fact that we have gone for so many years without charging for these services. It would have been much better if we had been paying a little during the years. People in rural communities came together some years ago to put together group water schemes. The European Union carried out tests and found that the schemes were not up to standard. Therefore, we had to spend large amounts of Exchequer and EU funds to bring them up to standard.

Metering will lead to the creation of jobs which we need. There are many people who were employed in the construction sector and who would be well able to carry out these jobs. People will receive a generous allowance. The current allowance is 50,000 gallons and any household should be able to do with this amount. If such an allowance is put in place, it will alleviate any problems.

We should look at water harvesting, for which there are grants payable in the agriculture sector. It is nonsense to think we use expensive treated water to wash down machinery, milking parlours and farmyards.

There is a system across the European Union that is better for water management than our own. We will upgrade our schemes which will create jobs and ensure water is not lost into the ground. In particular, I welcome the establishment of a water company because when I worked with the IFA, we found that there were different charges across counties. If we had one national water company looking after the water supply, we would have a balanced cost across the country.

It is very important that we have good quality drinking water. It is a resource that we must look after and cherish.