Independent Ireland tabled a motion on Uisce Éireann two weeks ago. All we asked for was accountability and timelines. Nothing more and nothing unreasonable, yet the Government opposed it. It was shameful to oppose a motion that simply asked a semi-State body to answer to the people they are supposed to serve. Uisce Éireann will receive €2.2 billion from the Exchequer in 2026 and a staggering €13.6 billion between 2025 and 2029. With that level of public funding, this Government cannot wash its hands of responsibility. It is accountable for how this organisation behaves, but for some reason, the Government seems afraid to hold Uisce Éireann to account at all. Accountability is a small ask. Some communities have been waiting 28 years for a simple timeline on when their wastewater treatment plants will stop leaking into local drinking water and community playgrounds that were once meant for children. That is not politics. That is public health, public safety and basic respect for citizens. Instead of demanding answers, this Government signed off on a €108,000 salary increase for the CEO of Uisce Éireann taking his earnings from €225,000 to €333,000. This was approved by the board last Friday and sanctioned by the Government before Christmas. Uisce Éireann claims it reflects the scale of complexity of the role and the leadership needed to manage a €12.2 billion budget. How can anyone talk about accountability when the organisation's track record tells a different story? Niall Gleeson has been in leadership since 2019 and the CEO since 2022. During this period, delivery has gone from boom to bust. Before Irish Water took over, local authorities, even under massive pressure, always gave public representatives a timeline. Do you know what? That kept communities calm. What we get now is a copy and paste generic response that mocks the people who are already stretched beyond words. It is absolutely scandalous that a semi-State company's CEO is rewarded with €333,000 a year and the company cannot give a straight answer to the communities in crisis. Instead, we have wastewater plants leaking across this island, polluting local rivers and oceans and water mains that are constantly leaking. Uisce Éireann was hit with €20 million in fines last year for failing to meet leakage reduction targets, fines the taxpayer ultimately covers. While this is happening, this Government's priority seems to be signing off on a pay rise and bonuses, not accountability. In this year's budget, many workers got no relief whatsoever. Households are stretched to breaking point during a cost-of-living crisis, yet somehow the Government approved a €108,000 wage increase for the CEO while hard-working people got nothing. I am asking the Tánaiste the same question the nation is asking. How in God's name did the Government think it was appropriate to approve this massive salary increase at a time Uisce Éireann is failing communities and ordinary workers are getting absolutely nothing?

Sentiment score: -0.03

As the Tánaiste said, answers and engagement from Uisce Éireann to Oireachtas Members is a non-goer. Any improvements there would be greatly welcomed because we are pulling the hair out of our heads to get responses for our communities. I do agree with the developer-led scheme he referred to because that is the only way we are going to deliver. I do, however, believe that people deserve pay increases too. I am not standing on this side of the House saying absolutely not, but how can I explain how this Government sought to reward the CEO of Uisce Éireann with a rise of 47% when others on the breadline got nothing? How can I tell the people of Adrigole, who were forced to close their crèche as they are two days without mains water and experienced 16 breaks since last June, that Uisce Éireann is looking after them or the people of Ballinascarthy and Shannonvale who went without water at Christmas or the people of Goleen, Ballydehob, Rosscarbery, Dunmanway and Shannonvale who are waiting decades for upgrades to their wastewater tanks? They never get any updates as to what is happening and when it is going to happen. How can I tell Councillor Noel Thomas in Galway that the new wastewater treatment plant in Connemara will deliver across to Carraroe, Costello, Tully and Ros an Mhíl? I cannot as Uisce Éireann has become untouchable and non-contactable on its road to non-delivery, but shamefully this Government saw fit to give the CEO a 47% pay rise without a shred of accountability. It is little wonder that the Government refused Independent Ireland's motion on timelines and accountability. Simply put, it stinks. It stinks to the high heavens.

Sentiment score: 0.08