Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not. The Minister of State said, as part of his answer, that it was unnecessary. Did he not? I respectfully disagree with the Minister of State and the Government on the manner in which they are setting this up. I think this is absolutely necessary. If in two years time the Minister of State is the senior Minister with responsibility for the environment and he finds out that there is a problem in Irish Water, he will be dependent on private auditors to audit that. Senator Gilroy and other colleagues, including colleagues within his party, will not be even able to question Irish Water about it.

The only way they will be able to do it is through the joint Oireachtas committee itself or through the CER, which is not getting to the chief executive at all. The Committee of Public Accounts and the Comptroller and Auditor General are set up for a reason and they do a damn good job. Why not let them do it? I appreciate the Minister of State's answer but it makes no sense to me. We are going to spend this amount of money on the establishment, management and running of this company, and the Minister of State is asking the Oireachtas to say we do not want any oversight over it or independent auditing of it.