Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and not do what is right by our parties, which is what is happening, and let us be honest about that.

I worked for the ESB for 20 years, and that company, which I think is well respected globally, is a semi-State company that manages our national electricity assets. It invests in them. The ESB undertook a network renewal programme during the 1990s and the 2000s whereby it invested almost €7 billion in our electricity networks. If that had not been done in this modern economy, of which we are all so proud now that it is growing, we would not have that quality network and service for our business, our farms and our homes to enjoy. I compare this to the water networks. If we do not have a network renewal programme and if we do not manage our water assets in a coherent and maintained way with proper investment, we will regret this day. I do not blame the Minister because Fine Gael was literally forced into this by the over-promising, which I mentioned, that Fianna Fáil engaged in during the recent elections.