Mr. David Gibney:

I thank the committee for the invitation to attend. I apologise for being unable to attend on the last occasion but, as people are probably aware, there was a union emergency due to the Tesco dispute.

In terms of the words spoken by Mr. Ogle, I cannot remember them but I can outline the perspective of Right2Water. Ireland, as the report proves, is not a wasteful country when it comes to water. In fact we are one of best countries to conserve water in the EU and the broader world. As the report states, Ireland has more water available than almost any other country in Europe or the world. Ireland has 50 times more potable water than the likes of Israel and far more than France.

In terms of penalising people for excessive use of water, there is a provision in the 2007 Act, as I am sure the committee is aware. All we need to do is implement the provision.