Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. The question is about the total sum. Has there been any analysis of what was contributed by the State in the eight years prior to that, which went directly to the local authorities, and the resulting improvements to infrastructure? I do not see any great acceleration of it. I see much press and media every time there is a new pipe laid. A host of new technology was used in a Dublin facility a few years ago. As I said, it could not have been done by Irish Water. Apparently local authorities were incapable of doing it. I inquired at the time and it turned out that the pipe had been extended to the sea. One would not need an engineering qualification to figure that out. There has been much media and PR about the achievements. Considering that the Department of Finance is writing the cheques, has there been any analysis of overall funding going to local authorities for water services in the eight years prior to 2014? What have the results since then been?