Dr. Tom Collins:

That is a necessary if not a sufficient condition. The consumer - the citizen - needs a voice but the forum needs to be able to interact directly with the public on these matters. It needs to be out there, hearing what the public position is and relaying that. It is not merely a conduit, however. There is also a feeding of the public debate and of introducing the experience from abroad, as well as introducing the wider issues regarding the factors that are impacting on water quality at source. Consumers need to have a sene of this. I believe they need to know this in order that the citizens can themselves become environmental managers, whether they are schoolchildren, parents in schools, farmers or otherwise. Ms O'Brien has a lot of experience in this field.