Ms Geraldine Tallon:

Irish Water has been established on an interim basis under an interim piece of legislation. The Minister intends to introduce full legislation in the course of this year for the full establishment of Irish Water from 1 January 2014. As members are aware, Irish Water will then be established as a full-scale public utility within the Bord Gáis group. Irish Water will be entirely responsible for the metering programme and the arrangements for water charging. Preparations are being made at present for the development of the metering programme. Active work is ongoing to install boundary boxes for metering. The Department has assisted with that as an advance measure. In the case of the metering programme, tendering for contractors regionally and for subcontractors is under way. I think Irish Water expects to begin the work of installing meters in the course of this year, with a view to pursuing such a programme over two to three years.