Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The figures upon which this is based is a study by Atkins which identifies the amount of water used per size of households and there is other information available to the Department, for example, in relation to the amount of water consumed in the United Kingdom.

It is based on the fact that one does not automatically add the full amount for a one-person household multiplied by four for a four-person household because that is not the reality. If I put on a wash in my washing machine, and I have a five or six-person household, a person in a one-person household puts a wash in a washing machine as well but he or she is only catering for one person. That is only one example. It is not correct to state if one has a four-person household, one multiplies by four the amount of water consumed in a one-person household. I merely want to make that point to the Deputy. The Atkins study is the study upon which the figures were based and that study suggests that the amount of allocation for children is enough to ensure that children are free.

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