Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

In reply to Deputy Kenny, the education section of the programme for Government contains a commitment under the approved funding for schools heading, which states that the Government will examine the provision of waste and water allowances to schools and that charges will become effective after those agreed allowances are exceeded. That is the commitment contained in the programme for Government.

I refer to the Deputy's question on the Government's commitment to the water framework directive. It is fully committed to the implementation of the directive on the basis discussed over many years, which I outlined to the House last Wednesday morning. This is appropriate and necessary given the importance of conserving water as a natural resource. While the debate on the water framework directive went on for many years, I agree with it and its vision for the future.

The issue of charging for water used by schools has arisen in the context of the introduction of water metering and full cost recovery based on actual usage. While installation of metering in schools is not complete, when it has been introduced the bills which have been generated will, in some cases, represent a major increase on the flat rate bills that were received previously. I refer to the examples I mentioned last week where water leaks exist. There were a huge number of them in the Gorey school and in other schools, such as the school in Foxrock, where the bills were massive. When the leaks were corrected for small amounts of money, the schools in question saved an enormous amount. While this can also reflect the overall levels of consumption, this was not the case in many of the schools that were investigated.

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