Dr. Tom Ryan:

The Deputy emphasised an important point about an issue we have repeatedly raised, namely, providing concrete plans and timelines for installing the relevant infrastructure in different areas. In recent years, we have called out delays and slippages with timelines. This is why we have said Irish Water needs to get to a point where it can reduce as much as possible the uncertainty around its project planning so that we have realistic targets to work towards. In the planned raw sewage infrastructural projects, timelines have slipped over the past 12 months. Even if they are now stable, we will still have raw sewage discharging into the environment up to 2025 in many cases and, in some cases, up to 2027. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, if we have realistic and concrete targets to work towards, it represents a substantial improvement.