Uisce Éireann accountability
Deputy Murphy again pressed the crisis in south Tipperary and asked for a meeting with Uisce Éireann's CEO and greater parliamentary accountability. The Taoiseach agreed to seek a meeting and to examine accountability structures, while noting the strain on parliamentary questions.
I call Deputy Murphy. We will go over time, so I ask the two remaining Deputies to be brief.
Comment on this
I want to briefly amplify what has already been said about Uisce Éireann. South Tipperary is in crisis, with 38,0000 households on a prolonged boil water notice. Most of the key towns are more often than not without water. Will the Taoiseach request a meeting for the Oireachtas Members with the CEO of Uisce Éireann, Mr. Gleeson?
There is also the issue of accountability. A public utility in receipt of significant taxpayer funding should be accountable to the Dáil. I cannot table a parliamentary question for this organisation. More importantly, however, it should be accountable to the existing committee structure within the Oireachtas or, even better, we should see the establishment of a dedicated Oireachtas committee for our public utility companies that are in receipt of significant taxpayer funding.
Comment on this
I thank Deputy Murphy for raising the issue. He raised a number of important points. I will seek to convene a meeting with the CEO of Uisce Éireann and the Deputies for the area. I will also examine the Deputy's issue around Oireachtas committee structures and things like that. That is a fair issue. I am not suggesting that every semi-State body should be subject to parliamentary questions because with artificial intelligence, AI, now we are seeing a huge generation of parliamentary questions. In other words, we want people sorting out the water problems instead of being consumed by responding. There is a balance here to be struck. Uisce Éireann needs to get focused on the issues and get it sorted.