Ms Geraldine Tallon:

We have given a very high priority to investment for environmental purposes. Under our water services investment programme our priorities relate to environmental compliance and economic development. To comply with the EU action we had over a number of years in regard to water quality we have invested in a remedial action list. Identified schemes on the list include water supplies identified by the EPA through its monitoring and oversight. We target them in investment terms. That has been a positive development.

We would accept that, as I said, investment in water has had to reduce over the past number of years. A number of plants are operating at full capacity or over capacity. There is a pollution risk in those circumstances. We have quite a large number of wastewater facilities which are new and modern, and provided under design, build and operate contracts. They tend to be well operated. One can sometimes see a comparison between plants operated, albeit at a cost, through design, build and operate costs and plants operated within the traditional local authority system.