Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that, but the agreement and contract was between Mr. Coskeran and Tipperary County Council in 2004. Irish Water did not come into existence for another ten years. There was no correspondence to inform Mr. Coskeran that his situation was being transferred to Irish Water. You said in your opening statement that taking in charge cannot be carried out without the consent of Irish Water. However, in the letter to Mr. Coskeran from the council in July 2016, advising that it would be processed in due course, there was no mention of Irish Water. He got another letter on 15 March 2017 from Tipperary County Council confirming that his application had been submitted and was being processed. Again, there was no mention of Irish Water. He received another letter on 3 August 2017 about the taking in charge process that was still ongoing, and there was no mention of Irish Water. There was a period of 13 months when other than a receipt to say the council had received his application, there was not even recognition or any correspondence between the council and Mr. Coskeran. At some stage, it must have struck someone that if Irish Water was the issue with taking over this estate, surely it should have corresponded with Mr. Coskeran, or any developer, to say this was going to be the problem.