Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This development was another milestone along the road to achieving a single, standardised national service throughout the country, with a greater focus on those who use the public services.

Such progress would not have been possible without strong co-operation between Irish Water and local authorities, which have decades of experience of providing water and wastewater services with great care and dedication. The 12 year service level agreements, now almost a year in existence, have proven to be a strong partnership between the local authorities' expertise in operations and the considerable network and utility management experience within the Ervia Group. This was most evident during Storm Darwin in February last year, when the two parties collaborated effectively to address emergency situations and maintain clear lines of communication with each other and with the public during a time of pressure on the public water system.

The scale of the roll-out of the metering programme has been particularly impressive. By any measurement, the domestic metering programme has been a success. Unparalleled anywhere in scale or ambition, Irish Water has installed almost 700,000 meters in just over 21 months.

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