Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation. I have a number of questions, some of which have already been answered. Water scheme directors and secretaries are concerned about the future of the schemes when they come under the remit of Irish Water. Can the delegation outline the future envisaged for these schemes in rural areas? I come from the Sligo-North Leitrim constituency, which has quite a number of group water schemes. Will Irish Water take them over? Can groups choose to remain as they are? Will Irish Water engage with the stakeholders before making a final policy decision on group water schemes?

I also come from a local authority background. A Senator mentioned that customers with issues to do with billing, leaks and so on rely on their local councillors and public representatives to deal with their queries. When Irish Water takes over, will local public representatives have a direct line to the company to deal with queries?

Where will the offices of Irish Water be located? Will they be local? I have listened to the debate and the delegation has answered all of our queries. People have asked me if local offices will remain.