Ms Lorraine O'Donoghue:

I will add to that because I was around the last time it happened. For clarification, that apportionment is set out in section 53 of the Valuation Act 2001 and it is done by order. As Mr. Quinlan said, it is done in consultation with the commissioner but the Minister is empowered under the legislation to make the order. To date, all global utilities have been apportioned on a population basis. As Mr. Quinlan said, two other global utilities, the ESB and EirGrid, are being revalued next year. Previously, they would have been apportioned under that order on the basis of population data in the census. It has been done that way to date because it is independently verifiable, treats every local authority the same way and the data are transparent and robust. Those are the only reasons that approach has been taken. It is a decision for the Minister to make later this year but I expect the same apportionment mechanism to apply to the three utilities this year.