Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There were jaws dropping all over this country when that was revealed. It is relevant because it is part of a pattern with Irish Water. There was a full investigation by the Daily Mailinto finding out who exactly another of the directors was, because they did not even know that and Irish Water would not give details. They did know that his forefathers fought on the Free State side in the Civil War and of course that was the important information for the Fine Gael Government. The Daily Mailcould not even find out the individual's name.
Let us talk facts and show what was served up to the public and what the public has rebelled against. Most disgraceful of all is the €700 million and more that has now been wasted. We are dealing with e-voting to the power of ten. The Government has thrown the meters into the ground and now said they are not going to use them because there will be a so-called capped charge, which is really a flat-rate charge. The meters have no purpose whatsoever. The Minister can say what he likes but the public is not buying it.
We have said that Irish Water must be abolished as it is simply not fit for purpose. The cost structure is too high and there is going to be a row in the new year about that and the employment contracts. Senators Craughwell and Landy have recognised the reality that when people are given contracts of employment they expect them to be honoured. The meters will be easier to remove than those contracts of employment giving bonuses to staff. That is what is sickening people about this project. Why could we not have created a body along the lines of the National Roads Authority, that would put a strategy around the country but let the local authorities do the work without setting up this superstructure of administration and billing?
The people have said "No". The Government knows this is going to fail and I believe it will be quite happy if it does. Senator Gilroy has suggested that polling is all that matters. That must be why there was a two-week delay when we all had to wait to hear what would be announced. We know that Fine Gael and the Labour Party were conducting market research during that time, to see what would fit with the public. After that they felt everybody would be happy with what they announced. People are happier that the charges are lower, there are no two ways about it, but a large proportion of the Irish public is not prepared to pay any charge.
With the €100 that is being given back to every household, we can now say that the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government has left no millionaire behind. Each millionaire in this country will get €100. We are going to have to take staff out of vital services to administer this €100 going to the millionaires. It is not going to the people who need it and it will not help to reduce the charges. An artificial charging structure is being set up to pass a so-called market corporation test in the EU and we are not even sure if Irish Water will pass. I do not think the Government cares because its administration has gotten into such a shambolic state. It has gotten itself over the hump until after Christmas and will worry later if anything goes wrong, and things are very likely to go wrong. I predict we will be here in May, if the Government is still in office then, trying to figure out what to do next. Fianna Fáil is trying to work out what way it should go because no party really knows what options exist when it has to deal with the €700 million that the current Government has wasted. That sum is lying before any party that is serious about going into government. What do we do about that €700 million that Fine Gael and the Labour Party have buried in the ground?