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

The Senator should listen to me and should listen to the facts. The fact is that there will be an official in the county council of the Senator's home county who will be responsible to the elected members for all issues in respect of water and water infrastructure plans. Second, notwithstanding the provision of a hotline nationally for everyone, there also will be a dedicated line for public representatives that the Senator or I or anyone else who is a public representative can ring up. Such public representatives can ring to report a serious problem has arisen, that they are getting calls from such and such a place and can ask what is going on. There will be accountability from Irish Water, as well as the possibility of sending text messages if issues arise in one's locality. There will be joined-up thinking in respect of what a councillor knows. I am familiar with this myself, because it was not too long ago that the entire water supply in the whole country closed down over Christmas because pipes had not been laid at the right depth in many estates. The Government is building an infrastructure for the future in order that Ireland will be a country that can stand over all the inward investment in industries such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals and, obviously, the information and communications technology sector. We will be the best in class in Europe in this regard and that is what the Government is about. I ask the Senator to broaden his mind and to open up to some of these ideas, because this is what is happening. Ireland must be in that position and by building up Uisce Éireann, that is what the Government is doing.

The points the Senator has repeated endlessly here ultimately do not add up to a tin of beans. The Senator should listen and should think again. He should work with us to get this right. The regulator, Irish Water, the Minister and everyone should be brought in, as this is what is happening in Ireland. This is the reason we are recovering from this economic recession. The Government has plans, Ireland has a future and Irish Water is a core part of that future.