Mr. Kevin McSherry:

Irish Water has employed a field team of 60 engineers who are responsible for monitoring the performance of the contractor on the ground with a view to checking the quality and standard of works taking place. The Irish Water field engineers have carried out 13,921 individual inspections of the quality of the works on the ground. When the works are completed, Irish Water works with the contractor and the relevant local authority to confirm that they are to the relevant standard.

In response to the Deputy, if there are issues, they should be passed through to us and we will happily investigate any broken lid. Members of the public have telephoned us on 1890 278278. Of the 14 reported incidents to date, seven have involved broken covers. They were all replaced with class C covers within a matter of days. None of the seven replaced covers has been replaced a second time.