Mr. Seán Laffey:

It is important to understand that the project to bring water from the River Shannon is to supply water to Dublin. I understand that people say that if we just fix the leaks, everything will be fine. The River Liffey is the 19th largest river in the country.

We take 40% of the flow from the Liffey into our pipes every single year and 85% of the water in the greater Dublin area comes from the Liffey. It is not about leakage. If anything ever happened to the Liffey, such as a pollution incident, 85% of the water into the GDA would be gone. That is the issue. It is about resilience. It is also about climate resilience. The catchment area for the Liffey above Poulaphouca is only 300 sq. km. Above the Parteen Basin, the Shannon is 13,500 sq. km. It is about resilience.