Mr. Fintan Gorman:

I understand that the CEO has interacted - I do not know how regularly - with Irish Water. As I said, in spite of it not being politically correct to say so, we see it as a positive development. Rather than interacting with the disparate views of several county councils and local authorities, there is now one body that can, I hope, be held responsible for the dreadful situation to which the Senator referred, the 42 towns in which sewage is being discharged into harbours.

This is going to be the responsible body. Again, as with fisheries, if we want a result, we will have to be prepared to put our hand in our pocket. If we starve it of resources, we cannot expect it to deliver its remit. Where I come from, a rural area, we have no problem. Water is viewed in a different way. If I pollute Lough Mask, the water coming out of my tap is polluted. I see a direct correlation between the quality of the water out there and what I am using.