Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, we would ask about Irish Water's dealings with the Valuation Office, how much the company is proposing to pay and how that figure is distributed. The figure will be the Valuation Office's global valuation of the organisation. Second, many of the major water treatment plants are being operated under long-term public-private partnerships. Where do they come into the mix in terms of rates? Does the private company in the partnership pay the rates to Irish Water, which then pays them on, or is the private company, which is making profits from the water treatment plants, exempt from rates? Is that another cost to Irish Water that might have to be passed on to the consumer?

I will ask the secretariat to send the transcript of the questions we have just laid out to Irish Water to see whether it can help us on this matter, with due respect to the fact that it cannot be compelled to appear before the committee. We hope that, as a commercial State body wholly owned by the Minister, it will respond and provide that information. We will try to move on now, as we have covered this matter.

We will hold over category C correspondence, which is from private individuals, for the next meeting because I want to move on to conclude our business and to get to our discussion with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There is just one little issue to wrap up. We will hold over the noting of accounts. The only comment I wish to make about the work programme is that, if the Dáil had been sitting next week, we would have had a scheduled meeting with the Courts Service. I will ask the secretariat to move that to as early a date as possible. The HSE is scheduled to appear before us on one day and the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board will appear on another day. Since the dates between now and Christmas are tight, I suggest that we combine those meetings into a morning and afternoon session. I will ask the secretariat to work on that and to include in the programme - we have no date yet - a meeting with the Office of Government Procurement regarding all the issues. At our next meeting, we will finalise the details. We have a few meetings scheduled. The next meeting, which will be on 7 November, will be with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. The OPW is possibly scheduled for 14 November. A little bit of moving around has to happen because the Dáil is not sitting next week. I expect that the Courts Service will be before us on 14 November.

We have said enough about the work programme now, and I would like to move on to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Actually, Deputy MacSharry mentioned an issue. Since he is a member of the committee and is present, does he wish to raise it briefly now?