Mr. Eamon Gallen:

It depends, and I know that is not the answer the Vice Chairman wants to hear. In some cases the local authorities traditionally supplied the water off the public main into the group water scheme free of charge. In some cases, they charge, while in others they do some maintenance and in others they do not do any maintenance. In some cases, there are orphan schemes which were run by a group water scheme but that is no longer the case. We are engaging through the Department with individual schemes. Some schemes want to hand it back, while others want to continue but want work done on the supply we give them.

On general policy, we could not take on 300,000 customers in the morning. We would not be geared and would not have the operational expenditure to manage and maintain a network of that size. Over time, we believe that where group water schemes want us to take them in charge a process and funding will have to be agreed and we are willing to deal with that as we are required. In the meantime, our financial supports go to the group water schemes and the Department can talk about that. Many of them do not want any interference from us. They want to get on and do their own thing.

There are issues related to historical precedent, custom and practice, practicalities and a mixture of all that. We deal with each as best we can. Over the Christmas period, for example, a group water scheme ran out of water and we supplied tankers, even though it was not our network. We cannot run an alternative system without the supporting funding and before we take on a scheme it needs to be brought up to a certain standard. We will not leave anybody stuck. We will work with all the current arrangements but, as matters stand, unless we have taken them in charge, such supplies are the responsibility of the group water scheme.