Seanad debates

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

11:00 am

Photo of Martin ConwayMartin Conway (Fine Gael)

There is much merit in what Senator Barrett stated. What we need in this House is a dedicated water day, where we look at all the elements of water. This House should lead the debate on water. Water is a precious commodity. There are millions of people around the world who would only love a glass of water which we take for granted in this country. A dedicated water day should look, in the first instance, at water conservation and lead the charge on educating the people on the vital necessity of water conservation. This country needs a water conservation charter to which all citizens sign up. Although there is 41% unaccounted for, there is a significant percentage of water wasted. It is criminal to see that amount of water being wasted.

Furthermore, we could then look at best practice internationally because other countries have been charging for water for years. We need to look at what is happening in other countries and educate ourselves and the Irish people as to what is happening elsewhere because we seem to have a tilted debate here. People would need to wake up to the fact that every other country has been paying for water for years and the reason there is a botched water infrastructure is because we have been giving it away for nothing. The only ones who have been paying for water are the farmers and business people, those who have been paying for a great deal in this country. We need to wake up and have a mature debate on water and we could start that by having a full day's deliberations in this House on the future of water in this country.

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