Mr. John Tierney:

I must point out to the Senator that the rates are extremely competitive. There has been some turnover because of the demands of the programme in terms of getting the work done and because of the strict nature of the programme. It is working extremely well. Let me give the Senator one figure to take away today. In the United Kingdom, Thames Water is installing 2,000 meters per month. Its plan is to complete the process by 2030. It is obviously increasing the rate to achieve this. We were set a target of installing 27,000 per month and delivering 1,050,000 by the end of 2016. We have reached the target of 27,000 per month and we are on target to reach 1,050,000 by the end of 2016.

There will be a conservation programme. It is part of the capital investment programme to begin to deal with the leakage problem.

On the issue of the interconnector, I am not sure what Senator Terry Brennan is referring to. There are not similar sets of circumstances at present in the North and South as there might be in respect of gas, for example.