Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To clarify, what the Minister of State said with regard to the consumer is that the first fix will come free of charge, so if there are any issues of leakage from the consumer's end, it will be fixed for free the first time for an individual homeowner. However, a group water scheme may have an application in for an upgrade of the scheme which has been waiting for five, ten or 15 years. Therefore, it would not have full control over the leakage from its system, which is how I imagine the scheme would have got a writedown from the council for the overuse of water. For example, if there was 30% or 40% leakage through a scheme's pipes, Mayo County Council would come to an arrangement with the scheme over the amount of water used, and give it a writedown so it would remain sustainable. If the group water scheme is still waiting for capital investment which is not forthcoming, will Uisce Éireann do the first fix and fix the system for that scheme before it begins charging for the water, given this is to be compared to a consumer situation where the consumer pays for whatever water is being used?