Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their submissions and for being here today. I have a number of questions. Scottish Water is a public corporation.

If a decision was made by the Scottish Assembly to privatise it and make it into a market corporation, what would it require? I presume it would simply require an Act of the Assembly.

Is district or household metering the more valuable tool for water conservation and detecting leakages? Documents have been presented to the committee which show that it is impossible to identify the level of wastage of water from a single house through district meteringm but I know that it is possible because I have done it myself. How do the companies identify a single property in which there is a water wastage problem? How do they liaise with the householder and encourage him or her to rectify the problem? What role and responsibilities do the companies have in the case of single house wastewater systems, that is, rural households which operate a septic tank? Do they assist such households in desludging or monitor such activities?