Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are the only country in the OECD that does not charge for water. That deals with most of the points raised by Senator Ó Clochartaigh.

I will now respond to Senator Whelan. We must face the reality that we have a Victorian infrastructure. There are cases where people must boil all water. Senator Cummins mentioned that some years ago the people of Galway had no potable water for six months because it was contaminated by E.coli bacteria. The only way we will have proper and safe water is by making the investment. In respect of Garryhinch, I could not agree more with Senator Whelan and I suggest the Oireachtas Committee should invite Bord na Móna to discuss the proposal. There is a deficit of knowledge about what is happening. On one side of the country, people want Garryhinch and on the other side they do not want it. We need to have a debate on Garryhinch. I think both communities would benefit from examining the facts.

The question of meeting the water requirements for Dublin is very important. Senator Ó Murchú raised the audit of infrastructure. I understand the book value of the audit is €11 billion, and is believed to be the book value of the assets of the water infrastructure nationally, but that has not been finally totted up. That is the expectation. We would not underestimate the massive task ahead. While the legislation allows for the transfer of assets on 1 January, that will not be the way it happens because due diligence has to be done. I raised a question about social infrastructure and some assets. It is quite complex. The Minister must sign off on each of them. There will be no uisce faoi thalamh.

The Senator also made the point about contacts with local representatives. I could not agree more with him and I am concerned that the public is fully engaged in all of the conservation issues. I want to see more of that engagement from Irish Water. I welcome the fact that it has placed advertisements in the national media.

Senator O'Neill made a very good case as well. I agree with the points he made on Sinn Féin and transfers of accountability. He also mentioned the "Boil Notice". I made the point earlier that one bottle of water costs €2.50 but for the same amount one will get 1,000 litres from the public water supply. That is great value for money. The quality of the water that Glanbia uses means it can stand over the significant investment in its development.

I have already referred to the contribution of Senator Maurice Cummins who raised the health issues in regard to the water in Galway and the supply issue in Dublin. He also raised the issue of collection of water charges by Revenue. It is not proposed that Revenue will collect the money.

The water services plans must be transparent and open to comment by the public. The local authorities will obviously have a major input as to what they think should be happening. There must be buy in to local developments plans, local area plans, county plans, regional plans. There must be joined-up thinking.

There will be transparency on the question of the free allowance and affordability of water charges.