John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In enacting this Bill we are providing funding clarity and certainty for Irish Water so it can deliver a public water system that provides a safe and secure supply of water to our homes and communities, as well as the water-intensive industries that sustain approximately 400,000 jobs in the country and the wider economy. We are providing funding certainty so the utility can address major deficits in urban wastewater treatment, which were referred to earlier, and so the public health and aquatic environment are protected. The Bill supports a strong policy framework for water services so we can aspire with confidence to achieving a modern public water and wastewater system fit for a modern society and economy. As Irish Water continues to deliver change and progress, securing water quality supplies, reducing leakages and increasing spare supply capacity and wastewater treatment capacity, all of us in the Oireachtas must constructively and regularly engage with the questions of how to improve public water services and manage this extremely important resource into the future. The public deserves no less.