Meeting on €50m Irish Water spend to probe value-for-money question, says chairman
Next week's meeting with members of Irish Water to answer questions about their €50m spend on consultants is about achieving accountability, the chairman of the Oireachtas Environment Committee has said.
Representatives from Irish Water are to appear before the committee on Tuesday to take questions from TDs after it emerged last week that the body spent more than €50m on consultants in its first year.
Irish Water has defended its spending, saying it can save the state more than €2bn in the next eight years but TDs want an explanation as how the money was spent.
Oireachtas Environment Committee chairman Labour Party TD Michael McCarthy said the main focus of the meeting would be the €50m.
"We will be asking questions about what the money was spent on, who sanctioned it, who knew about it and was there value for money," he said.
"We will be looking for an element of accountability that I believe only an Oireachtas committee can attain."
