Professor Peter Clinch:

I wondered if we were going to finish without somebody noticing that. To state clearly what the council's view is, because it is a very sensitive area, an adequate and clean supply of water is essential. We do not rate well in respect of water infrastructure in the rankings for competitiveness so there is a perception that there is a problem there and there is a problem there. The current funding model is not sufficient to meet the needs of the service. We know that, and the committee knows that, it has been dealing with these issues. Competitive public services are essential for competitiveness. As a competitiveness council we must advocate those ways of providing infrastructure that are the most cost competitive. To do that we need to encourage conservation. The challenge is how does one encourage conservation if one is not following a user-pays principle. The water commission has reported and it is still suggested, as far as we can see, that encouraging conservation somehow is important and we look forward to certainty on the funding model that aids competitiveness and we look forward to hearing Oireachtas considerations of what the appropriate model will be that will encourage the efficient use of water.