Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The independent assessment will consider all the issues. I have a personal preference, like everybody else, but we must wait to see the outcome of the process. The Deputy asked who will pay for the water meters. If the value for money report indicates that meters should be installed, the National Pensions Reserve Fund - at the time the Deputy's party was in government - agreed to provide the money for this. I presume that will still apply if we go down that route.

There are two ways to pay for this. We can pay back the money over ten, 15 or 20 years, with the total figure as high as €1 billion on an initial cost of €500 million. We must take into account the cost of the money and that is why we must have a value for money audit.

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