Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to revert to the experience in Scotland and Wales with water meters. Representatives of Scottish Water stated at last week's meeting that it could detect leaks using its district metering system. This clearly is at odds with a previous statement issued by Irish Water. We also learned last week that only half of Welsh Water customers were metered but that this had resulted in a 40% reduction in leakages. Much of the evidence provided by the two companies illustrates that individual meters are not required to reduce water leakages and promote conservation. Has Irish Water or the regulator assessed the use of district metering as the best mechanism to reduce leakage levels? I wonder why Welsh Water was not contacted by Irish Water about its approach to the metering programme?