Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I hope my friend and colleague, Senator Paschal Mooney, who has been in and out of the House for the past two hours, will get the five minutes indicated for him.

Given the density of population and the volume of drinking water consumed, I ask the Minister or his officials to forward to me a detailed briefing on the situation that prevails in the Dublin City Council catchment with regard to the level of investment that has been identified, the work undertaken on the strategic plan and the exploratory work carried out on alternative water supplies. Senator Hayes referred to the Shannon as if it was a protected area. It is interesting to read about the river basin districts but I understand a pilot project is being undertaken with regard to the supply of water from the Shannon district to Dublin. I hope we can get some information on that from the Minister. I also wish to know about the cost of water provision in the Dublin City Council catchment and its efficiency.

I firmly believe in the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I consume water in two different regions of our country, the east and the south west. The level of supply and quality of drinking water can vary and this should not be the case. Everybody has heard about or witnessed the variance that can occur throughout the country and is conscientiously aware of the costs and risks of illness due to poor or dilapidated infrastructure or poor quality drinking water. This might account for the inroads that bottled water has made into the marketplace over recent years. I was surprised to learn that annual sales of bottled water in Ireland have a total market value of approximately €100 million. That is huge expenditure. Somehow bottled water has the mystique of being purer and better quality water. Personally, I opt for chateau de tap. It is our responsibility to ensure we deliver water that is clean and safe to drink.