Ms Maria Graham:

We have been preparing some material on scenarios for the secretariat. To answer two issues, the €5.5 billion in capital investment in Irish Water is reflected in the capital plan and is, therefore, reflected in the budgetary perspective at the moment. Obviously, budgetary arithmetic is done on an annual basis and certainty of funding - a phrase to which we always come back - is one of the issues that concerns funding models. I would have pointed to that when first before the committee. In terms of examining scenarios and revenue streams that may come from an excess charge, this will depend on where it is set and the objective to be achieved. For instance, the plastic bag levy is an environmental charge that is designed to change behaviour. It is not intended to be a sustainable revenue source over the long term. This will be something that causes people to adapt their behaviour in order to conserve water and which will also have an impact on production costs over the long term. I am cautioning against simply looking at what are the administration costs and core revenue because the objective may sustain a different perspective.