Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Can the Minister tell us what the planned capital expenditure for next year will be because my fear is if we do not have the €600 million we need, and we only have €250 million or €260 million, the lion's share of that will be swallowed up by the bigger counties, certainly on the eastern seaboard? It is all well and good for Galway County Council or county councils in Mayo, Leitrim or Roscommon to have their priority list but if Uisce Éireann has only €266 million and it is prioritising Dublin, Wicklow or Louth, that leaves those of us on the western seaboard at a loss. The genuine fear is that there will not be enough money to go around and that rural areas in particular in those counties we will be left behind.

Also, will the Minister clarify whether the moneys collected will be put into the national pot? For example, does the money collected on, say, the €250 or €750 charge per house in Galway go into a national pot and is then divvied out or will ring-fencing happen in local areas to ensure that the money collected in Galway will be spent in Galway? That is something the taxpayers will want to know.