Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Whelan spoke about the debate on Irish Water and he highlighted the need to invest in infrastructure. A number of Members have asked for a further debate on Irish Water. When the Government has finalised its plans I will ask the Minister, Deputy Kelly, to come to the House. It was regrettable that we did not have a comprehensive debate. There was no objection to the Order of Business proposal that every speaker would be allowed five minutes speaking time which would have allowed 20 Senators to contribute. Unfortunately, Members were prevented from having their five minutes because of the antics of some people in the House yesterday.

In reply to Senator Cullinane I will certainly try to have a further debate with the Minister, Deputy Kelly, once the Government's proposals are announced.

Senator MacSharry asked for a debate on our participation in the euro. I will consider his request. Senator D'Arcy is probably unfair in targeting any one section of the community where crime is concerned. Crime is committed by many sections of the community and it will need to be tackled. Elderly people have been in fear of their lives but this problem needs to be addressed by the Government because the protection of people in their homes is paramount.

Senator Norris said that we were already paying for water. I agree we are paying a certain amount for our water but up to now this country has been spending €1.2 billion to barely maintain the broken pipes which cause leakages of 40% to 50% of water. Dozens of treatment plants are inferior and many kilometres of pipe work are broken. We have to fix the water system. As mentioned previously, this time last year the web summit had no water. At least €10 billion needs to be invested in the period up to 2027 in order to fix the system. Solving this problem will safeguard the investment and help to create jobs. It is disgraceful that today more than 20,000 people are on boil-water notices. The Government intends to address this issue.

Senator O'Keeffe spoke about the future of technological universities. The Minister spoke about the situation in the south east when he was responding to an Adjournment matter last evening. I will ask the Minister to come to the House for a debate on technological universities and their connection with industry. I am sure their mission is different to that of the existing universities. For example, Taiwan has up to 100 universities and there is currently a discussion about having technological universities rather than their existing universities which are among the best in the world. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to come to the House.

The graduate medical programme has been raised on the Order of Business on a number of occasions. It may have been raised during last Tuesday's debate - I am not sure - when the Minister was in the House for a debate on health.

Senator Crown asked for a debate on political reform. I will try to facilitate such a debate in the next term. Senator Bradford spoke about the dangers of the property boom and the difficulties that may recur. The Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, has responsibility for housing and he will be announcing a number of measures. I suggest we can have that debate when those proposals are in play.

Senator Healy Eames called for a debate on foreign direct investment with the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton. This investment has been very significant in recent years and it has contributed to the growth of the economy. I agree the benefits have not filtered down to many parts of the country but the Government will certainly continue to press for more jobs. I have invited the Minister to the House to discuss the action plan for jobs and I am sure the debate on foreign direct investment could be included.