Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Keohane and thank him for putting himself forward to serve in, what is essentially, a very public and challenging role. Like Senator Boyhan I also note Mr. Keohane's vast experience in the various non-executive roles and the various boards on which he has served. It is excellent that he is now willing to bring that experience forward in this new challenge with the semi-State utility, Ervia. Ervia is an essential semi-State utility with overall responsibility for Bord Gáis and Irish Water which are two critical utilities in the Irish economy in their responsibility for the public supply of energy and water.

In Mr. Keohane's view, what is his understanding of the challenges facing both of the utilities with regard to keeping pace with national economic development and consumer demand? There are two issues. One is the huge capacity issue facing Irish Water in delivering quality water supply to our capital city Dublin and other major urban centres. Our rural regions should also not be forgotten in terms of strategic development and investment by Irish Water.

I will now turn to the second issue. Mr. Keohane made reference to his previous role and his involvement in efficient consumer response. Being a new utility, Irish Water expended huge amounts of energy and investment just in getting established. I believe there is still a challenge in trying to enhance public confidence in the utility and I would like to hear Mr. Keohane's views on that. What can he bring to the role in enhancing the public confidence and making Irish Water more customer-friendly in its engagement with the consumer?