Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If the two organisations do not know the number, how can they know if they need to fix a problem? The dogs on the street know that sewage is going into rivers. The reports talk about phosphorous and a model is used. As a result of Uisce Éireann and the local authorities not knowing, the farmer has a red mark over him or her. A farmer in Leitrim was in derogation but is out of it now. That was in the west of Ireland, where you would never see a dairy cow in certain areas. How much of a contribution did the witnesses’ organisations make to that? Neither body knows.

Am I correct in saying that Uisce Éireann is scaling back because funding has tightened? I have heard this from the people looking after water and sewerage around the country.