James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State spoke at great length in this regard. Local authorities throughout the country are working at a furious pace to put in place a programme in respect of metering supplies. This is an ongoing feature within local authorities. Some people are singled out in year one, year two, year three and year four. We hear much from time to time about EU directives. I am afraid the Government will use EU directives and the fact that we will not get various EU grants as an excuse when it introduces water charges in one or two years' time. There have been discussions at local authority level that we may not be able to draw down the maximum grants from Europe for sanitary services and so on if there is not some charge on domestic water supplies.

I would appreciate it if the Minister would clear the air on whether there will be a shortfall in EU funding if we do not implement an EU directive to charge for water. The nationwide water conservation programme is money well spent. We need an update on how successful the programme has been to date. I have been informed that, following recent studies, approximately 47% of all water processed in reservoirs, etc., is unaccounted for. If this is the case, is the water conservation programme a success?