Ms Angela Ryan:

On the river basin management plan and the pressures posed by our wastewater treatment plants, at the start of the second cycle of the river basin management plan we were deemed to be a significant pressure on 291 water bodies. We have reduced that to 208, so we were one of the success stories of the second-cycle river basin management plan. We comprise one of the pressures on the water bodies. At some water bodies, there may be other pressures also. We have prioritised the areas where Irish Water comprises the most significant pressure on the water bodies. Even since the start of the third-cycle river basin management plan, we have taken a further 12 water bodies off the list of 208. We have plans and projects under construction or going to construction to address a further 63. Therefore, it is a key focus of Irish Water. We anticipate that by the end of the period of the third-cycle river basin management plan, we will have reduced the pressure we exert, bringing the figure from 4% of water bodies to 2% of water bodies. Therefore, we are showing a consistent downward trend.

On the remaining water bodies, we will not be the predominant pressure. However, we will seek to address our role as a pressure at those water bodies. We are currently progressing feasibility studies on 73 water bodies. I am referring to the early stages where we go out, do initial feasibility studies and examine options. That is a precursor to developing projects to address the areas in question. We should have all the studies completed by 2029. In the remaining 61 areas, we will be progressing the investigative studies and feasibility reports. We hope to have all the feasibility studies on the remaining sites under way by 2029, but it is likely to be the end of the 2030s before we have removed ourselves as a pressure at all water bodies.

The initial focus of Irish Water was investments in our wastewater treatment plants. Over the last investment cycle, we upgraded 129 wastewater treatment plants and 96 collection systems. We spent €2.3 billion doing that. We are seeing the return on investment now. We will tee up additional investment in our supplies, but also our wastewater collection networks. However, it will take more time to resolve those issues. We are considering developing integrated wastewater and drainage plans for the large urban centres. We hope to have six of them under way by 2027. That is a commitment we will be making as part of the third-cycle river basin management plan.