Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I met three or four schemes but they all had similar sets of concerns. It is a general point. To return to the potential impact of the drinking water directive. The Minister has confirmed what I understood. If there are additional capital requirements, the difficulty for Irish Water will be the capacity to deliver them in respect of planning permissions, tendering and all of that stuff. Even if the directive's eventual shape does not cost €300 million to Irish Water in capital funding, if it costs €150 million or €100 million, that is still a huge drain out of the current capital plan that Irish Water has.

I am thinking in particular of the work to bring the urban wastewater treatment plants into line with that directive. Is that something the Minister is going to be looking at specifically with Irish Water? Will potential contingency plans be thought through in case that type of bill comes down the line? I know it is not a bill that would come down the line within 12 or 24 months but even €150 million or €100 million from its capital programme would be a huge shift if that had to be used to meet the requirements of this directive. When the Minister says a decision of the court is expected, has he done any risk assessments of the potential costs, depending on how that decision is made, or is he going to wait until the decision is announced and assess it at that point?