The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have left the Chamber but they have also left the people of Ireland with the arrogance and the disgust they showed towards the real working people of Ireland. I have been accused of standing on a picket with the people of Ireland; I am guilty, but I stood there and negotiated with them to make sure nobody was affected. The waterways were not affected. The farmers were not affected. The fuel was not affected because we went down and met them to hear their concerns and we actually worked wi…

We are without a Government anyway.

We agree that you are useless.

If I ran my business like you I would not be in business.

Exactly, that is what you are. That is what you are.

The Government was forced to have several meetings by the people of Ireland.

The Minister of State is not listening.

The budgetary oversight committee is great and we have a diverse range of people on it. The one thing we want to see is accountability. We want to be able to see forecasting. The job of the committee is to go back year by year and see where moneys are being spent and where the delivery is. Looking at the Departments, if I ran my business the way the Government runs its business I would not be in business. We want to see the delivery of the funds the Minister has named and all the millions he has listed to see that …

I understand what the Minister is trying to do and I take in the context of what he is saying. There is better forecasting - that is probably the word I am looking for. However, look at the children's hospital where we have gone €1.2 billion over budget. Now I hear we are looking to take a legal challenge against the contractors for not finishing the job. The problem here is not the contractors but the contract and how it was set out on the first day, through the Departments. Every year that goes on, the regulation…

My concern is that I want local authorities to be a watchdog over Uisce Éireann. It has been reported under health and safety that Uisce Éireann employees have turned up to plants with no risk assessments or method statements and without confined space training. This is putting people who work for Uisce Éireann at risk. We want a watchdog, so the likes of county councillors and TDs have a watchdog over Uisce Éireann to make sure it is compliant and makes sure our water services are kept up to the highest standard. …

Common sense is not that common when it comes to Government policies. I will take the Minister of State on a small history lesson. Is he old enough to remember the Board of Works? I am. It went around and cleaned our waterways to allow for clear passage of water. Then, the OPW was set up. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State as he is only in his position for the past 12 months, but coming from a rural background, he will have knowledge of and understand the need to keep rivers clear. We also have to protec…

Sorry, Chair. On a point of order-----

There was not one thing in that ten-minute speech about cleaning the rivers or maintenance-----

-----and not one thing about protection of people's homes.

You have to allow a point of order, Chair.

On a point of order, from the point of view of people's homes, there was not one thing in the ten minutes-----

People's houses are flooding because of the Minister of State. There is no maintenance.

Oh, the Minister of State is-----

If you will allow me to speak, Chair-----

I welcome Croom Active Retirement Association. It was a mystery tour they were on today. My mother-in-law is on it, so I am in big trouble because I never let her know where she was going. It just goes to show I can keep a secret.