Mr. Barry O'Leary:

The contract was awarded after an Official Journal of the European Union tender. It was not a question of picking a UK-based or Irish-based firm. We picked the successful tenderer.

We engage in water and environmental projects but only if they are beneficial for housing purposes within the area. A water treatment plant is being built in Waterford and a waste management plant in Wexford because the housing under development in the area requires it. Only if it is something that helps or is ancillary to housing do we get involved.

A question was asked about the source of our funds. Until the crisis we borrowed money from throughout Europe through a euro commercial paper programme. This has since stopped and since the State cannot borrow in the markets we are getting funds through the EU-IMF channel. Money comes to us via the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, and this has been provided for under the programme.

We have a requirement for approximately €50 million or €55 million in reserves for the legacy issues to which we referred earlier. These relate to index-linked loans and fixed loans. These legacy issues will go away by the end of 2018. We do not have an absolute requirement for any profits we make this year in excess of the €50 million or €55 million category. The risks ebb and flow. Changes in interest rates and so on dictate what the quantum of the risk will be, but we take the view that anything above that level is open for discussion.