Ms Cathy Mannion:

We will set out what they are saying and what we think of that. We were asked whether the charges that will apply from October to the end of December 2016 are fixed in stone. They are subject to two caveats. First, the Minister can always issue a policy direction. However, he has given no indication that he will issue any policy direction in this area. He is very clear that it is fixed until the end of December 2016. The only area where we have to be careful relates to the free allowance of 38,000 litres of water per child. The policy direction requires validation of that figure. In other words, a decision will have to be made on whether that figure is appropriate or should be lower. Irish Water will make a submission to us in that regard. If we think the evidence is robust, we will take it into consideration. If we do not think it is, we will get Irish Water to carry out more analysis. We will then decide what to do with that information. We might decide to wait until the end of the two-year period, or we might ask the Minister to consider a different figure at some time during that period. As Mr. McGowan said, it is very important for us to get that figure correct. If the allowance per child is significantly over-inflated, people living in a house where there are no children, or where the children are over the age of 18, will be paying more than they should because we have provided for an allowance that is too high in respect of children under the age of 18. We have to weigh up the interests of all consumers carefully when we are determining what the right figure is.

We were also asked whether we have figures for the level of subvention from the Government. The charges will be fixed for a period of two and a quarter years. When we are making a decision on the charges, we will need to know exactly how much we will get from tariffs and from the Government's subvention. When Irish Water makes its submission to us and we publish our figures, we will make it clear to everybody how much money will be provided by the Government over two and a half years. We will also set out the level of the charges, the number of people who will pay those charges and how much revenue it will bring in. We will do the maths at the very end.