Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Cummins for sharing time. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank our colleagues in the Green Party for bringing forward this motion. It is a great proposal from which communities will gain. People in communities have already paid for these types of services down through the years by way of bringing forward group water schemes. People in housing estates have paid for their water connections and for bringing services to their area. The infrastructure for this type of provision is paid for and it is only right and proper that a connection would be made available in such situations for the benefit of communities.

Senator Garvey is right in what she said about the recycling of plastic. Plastic is bulky and plastic bottles are very bulky and light. The cost of transporting and recycling empty bottles must be enormous. I hope everybody who buys a plastic bottle disposes of it in the proper fashion.

I am looking forward to the Minister of State's contribution and to hearing his ideas about these issues. I am in total agreement with colleagues that it is common sense that local authorities should work in conjunction with water services providers to make these facilities available to communities. There is community gain in doing so. Over the years, we have seen the establishment of group water schemes, water connections in towns and the provision of pumps right across the country. The services are paid for and it is only proper order that communities should have some gain from them. I fully support the motion.