Mr. Tony Keohane:

I thank the Deputies and Senators for their supportive comments, which are very important to me. They will have to accept I am in the door a wet day so I am not really in a position to answer their more detailed questions. What I can say is that I know what the job is and I know what is needed. I am working with the board and the executive team. My plan and, therefore, my vision is to make sure Ervia works under extremely strong governance, is absolutely transparent and develops a customer-led culture, but also a value for money culture. That combination is where I hope I can, with the support of the board and executive, guide the company over the next number of years.

The committee members are right that there are many challenges but I believe many of those can be overcome with the support of the staff and the team in Ervia, Gas Networks Ireland and Irish Water, and with proper dialogue and transparency with the stakeholders. Whatever the outcomes of the reviews taking place, the board will have to take them on board and simply do its job, which is to be guardians of the operations of those companies. That is where I intend to put my focus. As I said in my earlier remarks, I hope my experience, particularly in the area of customer relations and customer priorities, will be of some value.

The members raised some specifics and, quite frankly, I would be spoofing them if I started to give answers as I simply do not have those answers at the moment.