Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)

I thank Mr. Gleeson. I have a few short questions before I call members in the order that they indicated to speak. He said that he hopes to have a budget between 2025 and 2029, which is five years, of €10.3 billion, which is approximately €2 billion a year. According to the information provided to us, Uisce Éireann had committed capital expenditure in 2024 of €1.37 billion, which is 6% up on the previous year. Is that figure of €10.3 billion before or after the suggested income or transfer of funds from the Apple escrow account? If it is only moving to €10 billion, or approximately €2 billion per annum, that is less than a 10% cumulative increase. When inflation and rising costs are taken out, that eats most of the 10%, so we will not see enough real growth for Uisce Éireann to do much extra and I consider that a small figure. That is the first question. Is the escrow account included? What discussions have taken place on that? I know some schemes before Uisce Éireann have been to design, build and operate. They still exist. The second question is whether Uisce Éireann will continue that route in the future or whether everything will be built directly by it.