Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. To follow on from the regulator's point, water services in Ireland have suffered from decades of under-investment. The statistics are frightening. A total of 40% of all treated water is being lost through leaks. Another statistic that is even more worrying is that 25% of water treatment plants have failed to meet international standards. We have an enormous responsibility to make sure that everything is transparent and crystal clear in how we do this and in the steps being taken by this committee, Irish Water and the regulator. To be clear on the timeline involved, the first factor is a price control submission, and this is a question for Irish Water. That cannot be made to the regulator until the Cabinet makes a decision on the free water allowance and the subvention. Is there any other controlling factor that may delay the price control submission to the regulator? I will await a response to that question and then ask my next question rather than get a block response to all my questions.