Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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Before Mr. Gleeson does, what I am trying to get at here is I think that is a very strong reason to build it. No reasonable person would say do not build it if the supply to 1 million-plus people is going to affected. It is the population growth argument I have an issue with, because we are meant to be balancing population growth in the country. We are meant to be accelerating the growth of the regions at twice the rate of the capital and this project, if built, will enable the growth of Dublin and the east coast even though that is not necessarily in our interest. That is not to say it should not go ahead, but the true cost of this project is not the construction cost but the other infrastructure that would be required. If this were to go ahead, the Government would have to give a commitment to the regional cities to invest in infrastructure that would lead to the population growth of Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway at twice Dublin's rate. If it were not to, we would see an acceleration of the growth of the Dublin and east coast region.

Is there an analysis by Irish Water that addresses the risk to significant growth, especially in the mid-west, because of the water resource? The Shannon flows through Limerick and we have very significant ambitions for the mid-west. Perhaps not in five or ten years, but certainly in decades to come, we see ourselves becoming a counterweight to the east coast. Is there an analysis that shows we can send so much water to Dublin and the east coast and still become that counterweight?