Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have not reformed defects in the permanent government which is why we could repeat all the mistakes again. The Irish Water crisis is this Government's issue in the way that the banking crisis was the issue for the previous Government. This Government has decided to hang its hat on that appalling edifice as the previous Government was codded by bankers. I ask the Minister of State to invoke the constitutional protection of the Comptroller and Auditor General to make sure the waste in Irish Water stops right now. The Government should stop covering up because every day more comes out. Today this body is investing less than the local authorities in infrastructure. It is too busy with PR, foundation costs, image building and so on.

I have not found anything on the Commission for Energy Regulation's website about this legislation and I gather it will not report for a few weeks. Let us wait to see what it reports. Lack of scrutiny by the Minister of State's Department and by Ervia over this body has brought democracy in this country to a crisis point with so many people on the streets. They have no confidence in either Seanad Éireann or the Dáil. The Minister of State can restore their confidence at this belated stage by redeeming this Bill and saying that the Comptroller and Auditor General will look after this because that is what the framers of the Irish Constitution envisaged. This body is being let off the hook. The Minister did not accept any of our amendments today or yesterday. It will carry on as before and bankrupt itself and seriously endanger the finances of this country. The Minister of State should do what I ask now.