Entire reform agenda depends on clarity

Establishing an entity intended to be as transformative as Irish Water was always going to be expensive.

However, even the project’s most committed champions must raise at least one eyebrow at the fact that consultants have been paid something around €50m by the semi-state during its very short life. That figure, just half of the set-up costs, is more than daunting and even if it unsurprising that consultants are involved in a development of this scale and importance, it raises all sort of questions that demand detailed, unambiguous answers. It also demands that answers are provided quickly and in a public forum. In this context, Irish Water’s promise to appear before the Dáil’s Environment Committee if asked to do so is welcome.

The need for clarification stands even if Environment Minister Phil Hogan has an NTMA report that suggests that costs are “reasonable”. It is reassuring that he, as the lead minister, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore have insisted that the entire project will be and is subject to rigorous scrutiny. That however, is not enough to close the affair; much more needs to be done, much more needs to be clarified.