Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Grant for his presentation. I acknowledge the openness with which he provides us information whenever we meet. Every event seems to improve the process, especially communication with the community and us as public representatives.

Mr. Grant referred to standby tankers and generators. Regarding the latter, does he have a target number of locations where permanent generators will be placed or will it be a combination of generators on-site permanently and a framework agreement to acquire additional generators? Power was a problem during Storm Ophelia whereas Storm Emma presented a different complication, that being, freezing and the consequential bursting of pipes. I was concerned by Mr. Grant's statement that, had this been a prolonged cold period, it would have had a disastrous effect on the Dublin water supply. This discussion is evolving into session B of today's meeting, but it is critical that we replace pipes in urban areas like Dublin so that we do not have bursts in future. On a technical point, are the replacement pipes being laid deeply enough to be protected from frost or do they have the flexibility to move so that they do not burst in cold weather events? Is there a timeline for the pipe replacement work in Dublin?