Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

Regarding water charges, if we go back far enough to the EU water framework directive and subsequent legislation we can see it is not a Labour Party or Fine Gael development. As Senator Bacik said, every country in Europe pays for water and it is not because everybody wants to but for quality and sustainability of water supply.

Will the Leader ask the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance to investigate how the advice of Ms Marie Mackle, a senior official in the Department of Finance who courageously sought to demonstrate that Ireland's property boom was not based on sound fundamentals, was ignored? We have all read it in the newspapers. The Department of Finance was advising the Taoiseach of the day and this official was screaming for the madness of the property boom to stop but was ignored. The warnings were dismissed and erased from public statements by senior officials in the Department of Finance.