Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. How much was saved by establishing Irish Water under the auspices of Bord Gáis? Do the witnesses have a figure for those savings? Second, the witnesses might feel they are answering the same question a second time, but perhaps they would clarify a matter. If the systems were based on those of Bord Gáis, was it not possible to ask Bord Gáis's system provider to provide the services to the scale required by Irish Water, rather than hiring consultants or third party providers and re-inventing the wheel?

In the same vein, value for money is the big concern of Members of the Oireachtas and the public with regard to the figures quoted in the media. The witness said he got advice from Scottish Water and Welsh Water. With regard to comparative pricing for their establishment costs, can the witness give figures for establishing the Scottish Water and Welsh Water companies? That would be very telling with regard to the value for money for these consultancy fees. Also, page 8 of Mr. Tierney's document refers to €32 million for IT infrastructure. Was all of that put out to tender? It would be very helpful to get a breakdown of that. Were all the legal contracts also put out to tender and how many expressions of interest and quotes were received? Perhaps we could be given a breakdown of the tendering process.