Irish Water’s attempts to offer Oireachtas members an avenue for queries is much too little too late, according to Fianna Fáil’s Environment Spokesperson Barry Cowen.
Deputy Cowen explained, “Irish Water has now decided to provide an email address for Oireachtas members to send in their queries. This is a feeble attempt by an organisation that has spent the past year avoiding my questions and dodging every query that I, and other Oireachtas members, submitted on behalf of taxpayers
“Providing an email address for queries from Oireachtas members is all well and good, but this is happening after the horse has already bolted. There has been a concerted effort over the past two years to shroud the establishment of Irish Water in secrecy and to avoid any accountability for the public money that’s being spent.
“My Parliamentary Questions to Minister Hogan about these issues over the past six months were kicked to Irish Water, who repeatedly failed to respond. How can we have any trust now that our queries, as Parliamentarians, will be addressed in a fulsome, upfront and timely manner?
“The time has passed for empty gestures and half-hearted attempts at giving the impression of transparency at Irish Water. We need full accountability for the use of taxpayers’ money at Irish Water and the work that’s being done with that money.”
