Mr. John Tierney:

I have already covered the issue of Uisce Éireann's management team, their appointment and where they came from. The person appointed head of asset management is the most experienced water engineer in the country. The person appointed head of communications is a communications expert, a chartered engineer and has serious qualifications in environmental science. We picked the best people for the jobs based on the applications submitted through the open recruitment campaign and that is the way recruitment should be done. The whole management team was picked on that basis.

I have covered the issues that were mentioned earlier. The Deputy asked one other question on the pay model. The differential, in my regard, is €10,000 but that has not been in any way affected by the pay model. Let me explain. When one compares two jobs then the pay model is determined by the sector. My pay is a matter of public record and it was stated from the very first day. The Deputy mentioned my pay but the comparative costs are far lower than comparable utility pay in Ireland and the UK utility sector.

With regard to the pay model generally, I pointed out that the pay model that we have introduced is a factor of difference in terms of levels of pay that are paid, by comparison, in the UK.