Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State who is responsible for bringing this Bill through the House today. We are always talking about the devolution of functions to local authorities, but this is an example of a Minister devolving a function to a Minister of State. I welcome the Bill, which provides for the establishment of Uisce Éireann, as the Minister of State has said. I intend to use the name "Uisce Éireann" only. Senator Ó Clochartaigh and I proposed in this House that it be called Uisce Éireann and this was agreed in consultation with the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht. I am delighted that the Uisce Éireann proposal was accepted. All other boards are known by one name only. I refer, for example, to boards like Bord Bia, Bord Gáis, Bord na Móna and Bord Fáilte, etc. If two names are used, the Irish-language one will eventually be dropped. Iarraim ar an Aire Stáit, mar gheall gurb í 2013 bliain na Gaeilge, a chinntiú go mbeidh "Uisce Éireann" an t-aon ainm amháin a bheidh in úsáid. Gabhaim míle buíochas leis.

One of the biggest issues facing the Government is the provision of good quality water in sufficient quantities. It is not just about metering households. It is about jobs and all of the other things mentioned by the previous speaker. When the much-coveted foreign direct investors come here, they have an insatiable demand for water. The Intel plant in County Kildare is an example of that.

We have to ensure sustainable, high quality water. As the Minister of State said, it is proposed to transfer from 34 local authorities to a new national water authority. As I said yesterday when we were talking about functions, we do not need 34 local authorities looking after water that comes out of one tap. The people want to be assured that the people delivering the water deliver high quality water. They do not need to know there are 34 local authorities looking after the same thing in 34 different ways. What they want is satisfaction and a good supply of water coming out of the tap. If it is not there or there is bad quality, we will hear about it but we will never be asked which one of the 34 delivered it. If it is delivered well, the consumer will be happy.

I will come to the issue of pricing later. The efficient, clean, cost effective delivery of water services is the important policy. There has been historic under-investment in water and ageing and poor quality infrastructure that should have been corrected years ago. I ask the last speaker to listen to this point. The leakage in this country is over 50%. We have spent huge amounts of good money treating water, and it costs more to treat than to deliver the water, yet we then let it run willy-nilly around the place. As an ex-member of South Dublin County Council, I am glad to say it was the best performing county council in Ireland for non-leakage from pipes. I will not mention the worst one, although it was down the country-----