Mr. Feargal Ó Coigligh:

In terms of the data and water bodies that are under pressure, we take figures from the EPA on what it considers to be the water bodies under pressure. The Chairman is correct that the main pressure on Irish water in the environment is not extraction. Far more pressure relates to the nutrient load going into the waters. That is a much more pressing problem. We take the figures estimated by the EPA. The committee may seek to hear evidence from the EPA. That is where we get our figures.

On the 25 cu. m threshold for registration, that is the figure used under the existing legislation.

Arguments were made to raise the threshold, primarily by environmental NGOs, and to maintain it, primarily by the farming, agricultural, business and small business sectors. We felt the best option was to maintain the threshold, and then allow the EPA, as the environmental experts, to monitor the system and make recommendations on whether it would be appropriate to lower the threshold in the future. That was the rationale we adopted. It does not deal with the issue of discharge. If water, for example, is abstracted for a golf course, it will be used on the grass, while in agriculture it will be used for irrigation, and domestically it will go through the wastewater system, whether that is a private standalone system or the public system. In that context, it is important to have an appropriate control.

Regarding the issue of measurement versus estimation, this concerns getting the appropriate control. It is possible to take an abstraction point, measure the flow, generally know how much water is being used, and then it will be possible to say where that threshold is. If there is a desire to be completely accurate, that would require people to put meters on the flows, record the readings on those meters and then regularly report those meter flows to the regulatory authorities. Capital and ongoing costs will be involved, as well as a bureaucratic and administrative cost in monitoring all of that. It is a judgment call as to what it is appropriate to do.