Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That raises another issue. If a foreign direct investment company wants to base itself in a town like Castlebar, which has been mentioned to me, the council currently has the power to say this is a very important project and that it wants to ensure the water treatment system and so on is up to scratch. If something like that happens now or if a county council wants to build an estate or develop an area in a town, will the council have to go to Uisce Éireann and get permission to install the water infrastructure as part of its county development plan?

Will it be the case that they will not be masters of their own destiny regarding how they want to develop their own areas because it will be up to Uisce Éireann to tell them it is to invest in the infrastructure. If, on the other hand, it says it is not going to make the investment because it has other priorities that county or city council will have to wait or put its plans on hold.