Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The remaining marginal capital cost of servicing non-domestic consumers and providing for future development is recovered by the local authority from all non-domestic consumers in its functional area on a countywide basis through a combination of water charges on commercial consumers and planning levies on future development.

Only significant largescale consumers who reserve a specific proportion of the overall capacity of a scheme are required to make a direct up-front contribution to the capital costs. I understand it is unlikely there are any such consumers in this case. My Department has advised Mayo County Council of aspects of the council's proposals that need to be reviewed to allow the appropriate non-domestic capital contribution to be determined. My Department has previously approved the council's tender recommendation for the scheme and the council is currently reviewing the scheme with a view to reducing the overall cost to a more economic level.

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