Ms Maria Graham:

It is reasonable for the committee to be engaged in examination of what would be the most cost-effective method of making refunds. The data around the entire billing system, which is four bills per annum, indicates that take-in was €20 million per annum. I do not have the precise figure for the cost of issuing a single cheque in terms of refund but one would expect that to be considerably less of a transaction cost. That is a matter that could perhaps be followed up with Irish Water.

As mentioned by Deputy Butler, not everybody is covered within the taxation system. There may be a number of difficulties from a legal perspective in terms of transfers between the different utilities. Ervia is a gas network company and not everybody has gas coverage and among the other utilities there is a broadly competitive environment. I do not see the proposal in regard to Ervia as an option owing to its coverage of the population. The data I have given to the committee, which we received from Irish Water, relates to amounts that people have paid. Some people have paid all of their bills in full and others have paid smaller amounts such that a refund or credit could not be set at a particular amount.