Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is our first opportunity to question Mr. Keohane but it is quite difficult as he is not in a position to answer the fundamental questions on the company. I presume that is an opportunity we will have later. With regard to his professional ambitions, I welcome his customer focus because that is what it is all about, the customer in this case usually being the average consumer.

I will mark one concern for Mr. Keohane, although I do not expect him to answer now. This is the question of the relationship between Ervia and Irish Water, in particular the services that are supplied by companies within the group to Irish Water, the cost of those services and the transparency of the accounting. I put down a parliamentary question on one other issue and the Minister was unable to answer, so I am not sure where I will get the answer. The question concerned the cost of the water metering programme to date and the plan for extension, if there is one. I will just mark out those issues and I need answers to those questions. I appreciate Mr. Keohane cannot answer the questions now but they are hugely important in terms of public confidence. Perhaps we will have the board of Irish Water before the committee at a future date.