Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Just a small bit. De Valera was giving the final speech on behalf of the then Opposition. People were expecting a big long Churchillian kind of a speech from Dev and all he said was, "I think we have heard enough". People have heard enough from us. They have spoken first. The question is whether the Government has heard the message. Has the Taoiseach and his Cabinet finally got the message that the people are giving them? Have they come up with the right solution? I have said it before and I concede that they have made the best fist they could of it. One cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Senator Barrett's amendment has great merit in it. It would help to allay the genuine concerns of the public. At the end of the day, they will have the final say if there is to be a constitutional referendum. That would be seen as a safeguard and would answer the worries people have that the political system currently is failing them.

The provision of water services, historically, has been a bit of a mess, and I acknowledge it did not start with this Government. I was a shopkeeper for many years in the provincial town of Listowel, County Kerry, and I had to pay water rates although I had barely a washbasin in the premises, as I lived in my private home. There were families with seven and eight children four or five doors down the street and they were using what water there was in the country and not paying anything for it. There was every kind chicanery going on, with people piping water from one person's supply to their own supply in order to escape payment. Clearly, madness has prevailed in the water services area for a long time. At least this Bill is attempting to put some shape on things, but it is not perfect. I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, a former great colleague of ours, and the Minister, Deputy Kelly, to find some way of answering the genuine fears of the people.

The only reason I would consider voting for this Bill - although I cannot and will not vote for it - is that I am not happy with the activities of some of those who are most violently opposed to it. Reference was made to the way our communications system has been held up over the last week, with Members getting an average of 200, 300 or 400 e-mails per day on their iPhones and other systems.