Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There was a question regarding metering. If there is no continuation of metering it will have a fundamental impact on the cost base of Irish Water as it goes about identifying leakages and carrying out conservation, and this will affect ongoing sustainability. It is not correct to dismiss the impact of metering on costs. Can the delegation give its views on that? If we do not identify leakages and distribution patterns there will be a long-term impact.

The initial strategy was to attract external funding by virtue of the cost base being off balance sheet and that allowed the State, and Irish Water by extension, to invest substantially in capital infrastructure. The level of State subsidy was the key point and it narrowly failed the EUROSTAT test. What are the long-term implications of the investment plan? It does not matter to Ervia whether the funding comes from an external source or the State as long as one has a sustainable funding base but it does matter as far as State funding and State services are concerned. I want to highlight that point, for the benefit of the committee rather than the delegation, because the impact on State services will matter to us in our deliberations. The funding will either come from external sources or the taxpayer.

Irish Water has a capital loan from the Minister for Finance. What happens to that loan when it expires? Will it be turned into equity and how is it treated on the books of NewERA?