Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for bringing forward this motion, which I am delighted to support on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party. When I read the motion, it immediately brought to mind the city of Rome. One of its nicknames is La Regina dell'Acqua. Basically, it is a city where water runs free. In fact, in the 19th century Rome was the very first city to introduce free water fountains with potable water. One would drink the same water from a nasoni on the streets in Rome that one would take out of a tap in an apartment or palazzo. It is clean and it is actually cold and chilled. The very uniquely designed nasoni are called a "nose" because they are designed like that. Not only do they accommodate us humans and quench our thirst but they are actually built so that dogs, our four-legged friends, can also avail of the water.

Water is essential for all of us to live and exist. Access to free public water is absolutely something we should be supporting. The added benefit, of course, when there are free water fountains and access to free water fountains is that it helps to reduce waste, it reduces costs and it is environmentally sustainable. It is absolutely to be supported. I commend and support the initiatives that have already been taken by the Department. They are absolutely very welcome. We need to be more ambitious, however. We need to go further with this. As a party, we absolutely support this. I commend the Minister of State for the work he and his officials are doing. Perhaps we could do something to accelerate the process, not just in our cities but right around the country. I will hand over now to my colleague, Senator Murphy.