Ms Angela Ryan:

Hard water is a cosmetic issue. Hard water can be beneficial for public health, which is one of those paradigms in life. People do not like hard water but it can actually be quite good for them. On the water supply in the greater Dublin area, two of the main water treatment plants, one of them Ballymore Eustace, has relatively soft water. Leixlip water is harder. It is an integrated supply, which means some of the district metered areas, DMAs, within the city are mixed DMAs so they are blending, but the supplies along the north fringe close by, and the Leixlip water treatment plant, are predominantly harder water. It is not the hardest water on our networks but it is hard water. When the water supply project, eastern and midlands region, comes in, it will sit somewhere between the two. We have a blended supply. For some DMAs that are predominantly served by Leixlip, it is unlikely that will change over time.

As a number of Deputies mentioned, there are many priorities across our public water supplies and wastewater supplies. We are looking at addressing some of the risk elements within our supplies, such as leakage and wastewater discharges. When we have resolved many of those issues, we may come back to look at the more cosmetic issues over time. The priority, however, has to be public health at present.