Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The amendment proposed by Senator Healy Eames is relevant and important to the debate we are having. We all accept and understand that metering is an integral component of what we are trying to achieve in terms of conservation and usage. The removal of the conservation and usage elements of this project weakens precisely what we are trying to achieve. It seems to me that it would make a great deal of sense to pull out all the stops and push forward with all the metering. I know there are difficulties in accessing the meters because they are underground and difficult to access. I found that hard to understand. I really saw a great deal of merit in metering, particularly for families. I thought that people should have been able to see their meters quite easily - they should have been very accessible - just like any other meter they might have in their houses. I think we should put that at the top of the agenda at this time. I believe the only way we can do that is through the amendment that has been put before us here. I think that if we delay overall the implementation of what is required, all the stops will be pulled out in that regard. I have to say I am a little worried about what will happen if we do not prioritise in this case. I think it will be sidelined and put on the back burner. Then we will move ahead again with a very fragmented and disjointed plan. An integral component, like the engine of a car, will be missing. I look forward to hearing what the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, has to say on this as well. The knee-jerk reaction to the difficulties we have and the protests on the streets does not necessarily give us the best way forward. I think we will come back here in a year or two to ask for an update on metering. Questions will also be asked about how we measure conservation. That will be an ongoing debate. Families will be worried about the whole question of usage. Senator Ó Clochartaigh referred to the point made by a person who contacted him. We heard a similar anecdote earlier from Senator Healy Eames. These are human reactions and human issues. They are not grandstanding like us. It is none of that really. These human issues relate to people who have serious problems with children and so on. I would love to get down to the human aspect of this-----