Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This situation was greatly improved when competition was introduced and thought was given to putting the customer first and how to generate business on that basis.

In my opinion, address of the water conservation issue has not been well-thought out in this legislation. I have a large garden with a big lawn and I use a great deal of water in watering that lawn. I am not sure that I will have to pay more for water than my neighbours who do not have a big garden and do not water their lawn. In Germany, the Government has encouraged people and builders to install water tanks in the attics of new and old houses and pays them for conservation of rain water. Is any initiative of that type being considered here? I recall having read an article on such an initiative but I did not quite understand it.

Senator Barrett said earlier that 25,000 metres of our piping is more than 100 years old yet when we asked Irish Water what would happen if an issue with piping arose and it needed to be repaired the response was that people would not have to pay for the first repair. Despite that some of our pipes are more than 100 years old, if a problem arises Irish Water will only repair it free of charge once. In this regard, a particular hotel, which is probably a couple of hundred years old, comes to mind. How will that hotel exist if it has to bear the cost of repairs to its pipes which have been in place for a very long time? I am concerned about the lack of regard for money. I could not get over the figures referred to by Senator Barrett on the spend on Irish Water, including that it has spent approximately €70 million on consultancies. I cannot believe that. We have been also told that €1.5 billion is the cost of paying 2,500 staff who will not be needed in the future. We have also read about staff being paid bonuses. The term "bonus" usually means payment to a person in respect of a job done well. However, in this instance bonuses are being paid to people who have not yet done a good job. How is it proposed to monitor all of this to ensure we are achieving what we are setting out to do on this basis?

There are many questions to be answered and many question marks overhanging this legislation yet the Minister has not thus far said that he is willing to consider some of the Seanad amendments tabled. In regard to his statement that he accepted two amendments yesterday in the Dáil, were they ministerial amendments or amendments tabled by-----