Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not having been here for the Minister of State's address as I had to attend to a matter, but I was watching it on the monitor and have been able to check the script.

Certain Senators made very specific reference to Senators on this side of the House. Nobody on this side of the House is bound to repeat or support the mistakes of the past. All I can say is that it takes a particular class of person, having noted the mistakes of the past, to repeat them yet again.

Senator Kelly, in particular, mentioned electronic voting machines. In my opening statement, I mentioned the shocking debacle associated with the electronic voting machines, but the water meter debacle makes that pale into insignificance. I mentioned the HSE in my opening address and the problems with which that organisation is associated. Not having learned from the mistakes made in setting up a super-quango such as the HSE says more about the current Administration than anybody in the past. In any event, the people adjudicated on the performance of the previous Government and took a decision accordingly. The current Government is now in power and it is the job of the people on this side of the House to hold it to account, regardless of what happened in the past - end of story.

The Minister referred to boil water notices and the need to lift them. Lough Gara in Roscommon is the lake from which the contaminated water is taken. There is cryptosporidium in the water, as we saw on "Prime Time", and people cannot brush their teeth with it or make tea. Nothing that has been done by the Government over the past 18 months has helped in this regard. If the Government had given to Roscommon County Council a fraction of the €540 million spent on meters or the €170 million spent on consultants, etc., there would be no boil water notices in that part of the country. There would be no boil water notices in other parts of the country if that approach had been taken and if we used the template we had, based on local authorities nationwide staffed by hard-working engineers and with local expertise. Some €700 million has been spent on Irish Water. Based on its own figures, we would have already finished 30% of the national infrastructure upgrade required had we not decided to say that when all the borrowed money is paid back, we may have circumstances in which Irish Water can pay for itself.

If I was buying a machine I expected to work, I would not be happy with a 15-year lifespan.

The Minister of State said, "Contrary to the inaccurate suggestions of some of the Opposition, there will be no need for a wholesale programme" except, of course, for the ones that no longer work. Who spends €500 million on something which has only a 15-year lifespan? There must be others on the market, and, if there are not, surely we would have been better off spending €540 million on the necessary infrastructure upgrade throughout the country so that the sewerage to which Senator Brennan referred is not being pumped into harbours all over the country?

I want to know the situation regarding the proposed legislation later in the year. What is in the legislative programme? In my opening remarks, I asked what that was for and I still do not know. Will it address the possibility that the EU will tell Ireland the level of taxpayer subvention the Government is using is not allowed and, as a result, will we need a supplementary budget to run the quango and pay the large salaries for the three boards which will be set up to administer the biggest joke since the establishment of the HSE? I say that in a personal capacity.

Unfortunately, the questions raised at the beginning still remain. Why have we wasted €700 million? When will we see upgrades? I used local examples, such as Tubbercurry, Strandhill and Grange - there are examples in every county, including that of the Minister of State. He is not in a position to answer any of those questions. In fact, he did not answer any of them. He simply said, "We are great. Look at the mess we cleaned up after Big Phil went to Brussels. It cost us €700 million. It is all going to be good. There is a good few leaks around the country. We have no money to sort them out, but maybe that is what the legislation is for later in the year." We had the usual plethora of anti-Fianna Fáil jibes about Governments of the past. Sadly, it seems as though we will have to have another debate about this to find out what the legislation is about, how long the meters will last and from where the money will come for upgrades.

I raised a very serious issue. Before we are six months' older, I will be able to wave a letter in the Chamber from the Minister of State or the Minister, Deputy Kelly, saying, "I am sorry. I am not able to comment on the proposed upgrade to sewerage treatment plant X. That is now a matter under the Water Services Act for one of the people down in the quango in Cork, so I have asked them to reply to you directly. Yours sincerely, Minister Whoever." I bet that will happen, just like it has with the HSE and the unacceptable way Governments in the past, and the current Government, have sub-contracted the people's services and money to third party organisations which are answerable and responsible to nobody.