Mr. Michael McDermott:

I will answer that question. These projects are 85% funded by the Department and 15% by a local contribution. In the earlier session, I think there was a misnomer in respect of there being a connection fee to Irish Water that was being paid for. It is not. It is 85% funded by the Department and 15% of the overall cost comes from a local contribution. The €1,350 mentioned in the previous session is the minimum amount because the amount of funding by the Department in the context of the last programme was €9,000 per household. This was the threshold that it funded too. In the new programme, this amount has been upped to €15,000 per household. Until we know the overall cost, however, we will not know what the 15% of the local contribution will be. This is the case with any project. All our projects are the same in this regard because this is the split of the funding. It is not a specific connection charge; it is a local contribution cost.