Dr. Paul McGowan:

I would like to refer to some of the previous points that were made and perhaps follow up on Mr. O'Leary's intervention on investment. It is important to remember that it is acknowledged that there has been an historic lack of investment in the water infrastructure and the intent behind the charging regime was to address it. As the economic regulator, we have to hold Irish Water to account to ensure that it delivers service improvements and reduces its costs at the same time. I reiterate my earlier point which was that the funding must be available and secure to do that. We cannot hold Irish Water to account for a five-year business plan if the basis for that business plan, which would be secure funding, is not available. I wanted to reiterate that point and to follow up on the points made by the EPA.