Mr. Garrett Blaney:

We will talk the Deputy through the issues in respect of pressure and capacity. Pressure is a complicated feature and, obviously, it has been highly variable across the country. Low pressure has been a significant feature of water within the Irish system. In some ways, that actually has been designed for in that, for most properties, the building standards specify that one will have a tank in a property. The water pressure will vary significantly over the day and therefore at times of high pressure, one can fill the tank, which will cover against periods of low pressure for everything other than the direct means for consumption. Consequently, going back historically, some elements of pressure have been built into the design of properties. Pressure also is complicated in the sense that there is a relationship between pressure and the leakage in the system. Obviously, if one jacks up the pressure in the system, one also increases the leaks and we must make sure there is a nuanced approach to pressure in order that it does not increase what already is a very high leakage rate, as the Deputy mentioned, in the system. Overall, it is not so simple to even set a standard pressure.