Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The total amount of money raised is €271 million and this minus €100 per household, be they renting or owner occupiers, is €166 million. This leaves a net amount of €105 million. The estimate I was given is that the cost of collecting the €271 million, between metering and billing, is €120 million, so before we factor in the costs of administering the conservation grant we are at a net cost to the State of charging people for water of €15 million a year. I may be wrong; I am just going on the best figures I can get and I accept I may be wrong. On the basis that clearly there are an awful lot of very important questions to be answered, in particular the net position of the State for charging people for water, should we suspend the session and come back next week and have an informed debate and the Minister can send around the numbers?

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