The ongoing revelations concerning the establishment of Irish Water are making many people angry out in the community. People have been extremely surprised by the drip-feed of revelations over recent days. It is fair to say that, since the Government set up Irish Water, it has until recent days been run like a secret service, with very little information being given to anybody, particularly to Members of Dáil Éireann and the public. If one is to judge by the ministerial reaction of colleagues of the Minister, Deputy Hogan, they seem to be as surprised as everybody else about some of the revelations. While we do not know if that is fair, the Tánaiste said last week that with regard to the €50 million that was spent on consultants, value for money would have to be shown.

Despite the past two days, we still do not have full details in terms of all of the spend in regard to Irish Water. The Minister, Deputy Hogan's arrogant attitude of "It's none of my business" has annoyed people and made them especially angry. I also put it to the Tánaiste that people are particularly worried that families with young children could be facing a second tier of charges, given the proposals the regulator may have, and they will be particularly vulnerable to excessive water charges.

The way it was established as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis has led to a convoluted quagmire. That is why, for example, it was revealed yesterday that bonuses will be paid to the staff of Irish Water, despite the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, saying that would be astonishing, and despite the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, saying two days ago that it was a public relations disaster and yesterday that paying bonuses would not be justified. The Taoiseach's spokesman said the same yesterday, namely, that no bonuses would be paid. We learned last evening that bonuses will be paid, that the Government approved the payment of bonuses, and that the Economic Management Council approved the structure of the establishment of Irish Water as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis, resulting in the reality of bonuses being paid.

I accept, in fairness to the Tánaiste, that the establishment of Irish Water was a Fine Gael policy, with its origins in the NewERA document. However, that does not explain everything. I ask the Tánaiste to explain to me why the Government agreed to pay bonuses to the staff of Irish Water, and agreed this would be part of the regime in Irish Water, despite everything we have heard from Ministers.

Thank you, Deputy.

Second, will the Tánaiste indicate how the Government is going to intervene to protect families with young children from excessive charges of €400 plus, given the role of the regulator and also given his own stated position that he was against water charges? He said: "I’m against water charging. ... [They are] essential services [that] should be delivered as a public service." That was the Tánaiste's statement on this issue. I ask him to answer those two questions.

There are quite a number of things I have to correct in Deputy Martin's statement. First, Irish Water is being established to modernise the way in which the water services of this country are delivered into the future. I said, and the Labour Party has said for quite some time, that the delivery of water in this country needed to be done on a national basis. Nobody, for example, would now consider it desirable to deliver electricity on a county-by-county basis, and it is not sustainable that water services are delivered on a county-by-county basis.

EirGrid will do it.

It needs to be done on a national basis, which is why Irish Water was established. There are establishment costs associated with Irish Water, and they run to about 1% of the total cost of water service delivery over the next decade. The amounts of money are very large - of course they are. That is why it is essential there is value for money for any money that is spent in the establishment of Irish Water, as there would be in the establishment of any company.

It is essential there is transparency for that, which is why the chief executive and the management of Irish Water were before two Dáil committees this week to provide the information about how that money is spent. It is also why the Government is applying the Freedom of Information Act to Irish Water in order that the public can have full information about what is spent.

When?

It is also important there is accountability in Irish Water, as in any public body, for the way in which it does its business. The chief executive of Irish Water was before two committees this week. If any issues arise, it is the job of Members who are elected to this House and who are members of the relevant committees, in this case, Deputy McCarthy's committee and the Committee of Public Accounts, to establish the facts and ask for any information they want. If any issues surface in that process, the Government will certainly be very happy to address them.

Deputy McCarthy is not happy about it.

The story this morning that there is some kind of a second tier of charging for families with children has no basis. No decision has been made in regard to the levels of charges that will be applied and how they are going to be applied, other than the policy the Government has taken, which is that the charging for water will be on the basis of a metered regime and there will be a free allowance for households, with charging to be above and beyond that. The process which has to be followed for that to be established is that the regulator must set out what kind of charging on an economic basis is to be pursued, and then, based on what the regulator has said, the Government will make a decision as to what the level of the free water allowance will be and what the charging above and beyond that will be. That is the approach we are going to take.

Has the Tánaiste a view on that?

Will he micro-manage it?

The Tánaiste deliberately avoided answering the question about the bonuses.

He did not.

I asked him why the Government approved the bonuses. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, approved it and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, approved it, as did the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, although he is now passing the buck to the Minister, Deputy Howlin, as per his comments yesterday.

Will the Tánaiste please answer the question? Why did the Government approve the payment of bonuses and why do we have to listen to all the hypocritical rhetoric from the Minister, Deputy Burton, who said she was going to take it up with the Tánaiste and the rest of the Cabinet?

Was she kept in the dark? That is the problem. Nobody knows what to believe. It is incredible. It is insulting to people to say that all of this information is available. The only reason Irish Water is before committees this week is because Seán O'Rourke asked that question.

That is right.

Dáil Éireann was kept in the dark for 12 months. Freedom of information explicitly excluded Irish Water. It was not included.

A question, please.

Prior to Christmas, Dáil debate was shut down.

The tap was turned off.

I think I know the reason for that. The reason was to keep this thing under the radar until after the local elections in May. That is why people are sceptical and angry. The first charge would happen in the last quarter of 2014.

A question, please. You are over time.

The regulator will be a powerful force in terms of levying those charges. I do not accept-----

This is supplementary questions.

We need far greater clarity and certainty for families with younger children in particular. Will the Tánaiste answer the question on the bonuses in the first instance? There are many more questions we can ask but, given the time limits we have, we will have to wait. None the less, we would like to have straight answers. Why were bonuses approved and what will the power of the regulator be vis-à-vis the Government in terms of levying charges?

First, Deputy Martin knows very well that pay in the commercial semi-State sector is a matter for the companies themselves. There is-----

That is not what the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, said.

Hold on a minute. If the Deputy asks a question, he should listen to the answer. He might not like it but he should listen to it.

We got the answer yesterday from the Minister of State.

There is a clear Government decision that reduced the pay of chief executives of commercial semi-State companies and ensured that no bonuses would be paid to them.

Deputy Martin spoke about hypocrisy. He of all people is in no position to come in here and talk about spending in any State agencies. He commissioned 145 consultancy reports when he was Minister for Health at a cost of €30 million and spent €220 million on the PPARS project which never saw the light of day.

Meanwhile, his Government presided over a neglect of water services in this country to the point where people in Galway could not drink the water because it was contaminated. It brushed it under the carpet. For the money it wasted on consultants' reports, it would have established Irish Water three times over.

Would Members please allow Deputy Mac Lochlainn to speak? The rules of this House apply to everybody on all sides and I will apply them as long as I am in this Chair. I call Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I expect Members to have the courtesy to allow him to speak.