Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. I have a few questions. Whoever is most able to answer them can do so. In light of last week's meeting, could they outline why individual metering at people's homes is more beneficial than district meeting? Could they elaborate on whether there are benefits in this regard?

The expert commission recommends a charge for excessive usage.

How can we charge for excessive usage if there is no meter to measure usage?

In light of the commission's recommendations, how can we reduce excessive water usage in apartment blocks? To paraphrase, the report stated it might be easier to meter blocks of apartments rather than individual units. How can the excessive charge element be dealt with if there is a meter for an apartment block but not one for each individual apartment?

In terms of conservation, have we domestic or international data that show metering affects behaviour? Is there evidence that shows measuring usage has a knock-on effect on behaviour and conservation? If householders can receive data on their water usage, does that support the conservation of water?

Let us say nothing had happened with water to date and we were starting at ground zero, would the delegation consider metering to be a good idea? I cannot understand how we can get proper metrics without meters. If Irish Water had a blank sheet, would it still call for meters? My comments have centred on the conservation element of metering and how can we deal with excessive usage if we do not know how much water people use.