Mr. Tony Smyth:

I would have to check the detail of it and come back to the Deputy. We run a data set of about 350 gauges mainly on rivers for flood relief and flood information. The EPA runs a similar-sized network primarily for water quality. It is to ensure that the process whereby we gather information is streamlined and that we are not duplicating any work. That has been ongoing for quite a number of decades but this co-ordination committee will streamline that. I understand that the Marine Institute has installed a number of gauges. I am not sure whether they have the same level of maintenance as those gauges or whether it has the resources to do that. It is an attempt to streamline that gathering of the basic information by the State agencies involved in it. The main agencies involved are the OPW and the EPA with the Marine Institute. I think the ESB would be peripheral but it does not have very many gauges and Waterways Ireland would have some gauges but, again, the main drivers would be the EPA and the OPW as the main data set owners.