I was somewhat surprised this morning that the Tánaiste did not condemn any letter emanating from any local authority threatening eviction for people if they had difficulty paying water charges. She should make it clear that that is not acceptable practice. I do not think anybody in the House would justify that but she did not take the opportunity afforded to her to do that.

When Deputy Higgins sought a debate, the Tánaiste mentioned that the Government had spent a lot of time on the matter. The Government may have spent a lot of time internally, although I do not know. When the consultants' costs were revealed, many Ministers said they knew nothing about it. We subsequently learned, however, that the Economic Management Council, or EMC, a sub-committee of the Cabinet, took all the decisions on Irish Water. Maybe they did not know but the Dáil was not informed. If the Tánaiste remembers, the legislation was rammed through the Dáil in about four hours.

We have therefore had an incredible lack of any serious discussion on the entire issue and particularly around the legislation that established Irish Water. We simply were not given the time because the legislation was guillotined well over a year ago in about two or three hours.

Yesterday, we learned that Fine Gael has demanded that Irish Water should come before an internal Fine Gael committee. This is all about Fine Gael Deputies.

The Deputy could bring them before a Fianna Fáil committee.

The Labour Party apparently met Irish Water two weeks ago.

We have and it is open to the Deputy to do so.

We did ask. Our environment spokesman, Deputy Barry Cowen, has asked in writing.

That is good.

What did they say to you?

There has been no response.

They are unaccountable.

Obviously Irish Water feels it has to be more accountable to Fine Gael's internal committee or Labour Party Deputies than it has to be to the Oireachtas. That is the only lesson I can draw from that, but it is not good enough. There is an incredible arrogance on the Government benches-----

See who is talking.

-----that the Oireachtas does not matter. The bottom line is that there was no debate on this. There never was a debate on the establishment of Irish Water or the legislation that underpinned it because all Stages were rammed through the House in about three or four hours.

Deputy Cowen has written to Irish Water to seek a meeting but he was surprised to learn that the Labour Party had already met the company. Deputy Cowen told me that he had been trying to get a meeting with them for the last two or three months, yet an internal Fine Gael committee is hauling them in. It seems that Irish Water has to be accountable to the Fine Gael Party but not to anybody else. That is the bottom line.

Can we get an assurance from the Tánaiste? At the time, the previous Ministers, the former Deputy Hogan and Deputy O'Dowd, were all dodging parliamentary questions. They said it was not a matter for them to answer parliamentary questions in here.

Join the Fine Gael Party.

That is the Chief Whip, Deputy Kehoe's, attitude. It is jackboot stuff.

Here we go again.

Deputy Seán Conlan knows all about it. That is how you guys run it. You might run the Fine Gael operation like that but do not think you are going to get away with running the Oireachtas like that.

Deputy Martin should watch his back. He should look behind him.