Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a job for Irish Water. It must consult the local authorities, decide on its strategies, identify priorities and draw up a plan. Once that has been done, the plan must be costed, at which point it will become a public document on which the Oireachtas may comment.

It goes then to the Commission for Energy Regulation which proposes a decision on it. We can all comment on it again at that point. There is accountability and communication in relation to that at all stages. That is a fact. Obviously, the amount of capital the Government puts into water services is a key factor in determining what the cost will be. According to a figure I saw earlier, the Minister, Deputy Hogan, is providing €720 million to local authorities for capital and current expenditure on water services this year. That is one end of it. I hope that answers the Senator's question. I think it does.