Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all of the witnesses. I will set out our role as I see it. The citizen looking in is entitled to clarity on the breakdown of costs, what they are for and the service he will be provided with. I want to go into those areas. I have no wish to go over old ground because much of it was covered yesterday at the environment committee. However, I wish to deal with some of the main areas.

The first issue, to cut to the chase, is the €50 million that has been spent on consultants' fees to date. That is the figure being discussed at the moment. I want to ask a question and then come back in and I want us to interact. I want to get full clarity on the €50 million. This is probably a question as much for Mr. Dempsey as for Mr. Tierney. Irish Water probably has management accounts done at this point. When Irish Water comes to do the statutory accounts, how much of the €50 million will be reflected as a capital item in the balance sheet? How much will be reflected as revenue? That point has not been dealt with but it is a basic and fundamental one. I call on Mr. Tierney to deal with that straight away.