I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 and 128 together.
Design, build, operate, DBO, procurement, together with the bundling of numbers of schemes under a single contract, is the established procedure for the procurement of water treatment and disinfection equipment for privately sourced group water schemes. Under this process the selected contractor operates and maintains the new equipment under a 20 years contract with each of the participating groups.
Subject to a maximum cost of €7,618 per house, grants of up to 100% of the cost of water treatment and disinfection equipment and 85% of related civil works — including buildings, reservoirs, water conservation and network renewal — are available. An annual subsidy of up to €196.81 per house is payable towards the operation and maintenance costs of schemes participating in DBO contracts.
Bundled DBO contracts do not affect general management of group water schemes' affairs, including the setting and collection of charges or fees. Participating group schemes retain their independent status and operate as separate entities unless two or more schemes decide to amalgamate by way of a private arrangement.
To improve the management structure of group schemes and to facilitate long-term operational contracts, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes, the representative body for the group scheme sector, recommends that all groups participating in DBO contracts should be incorporated as registered co-operatives. Where a group scheme is restructured from trust to co-operative, the board of directors assumes the duties and responsibilities formerly discharged by the trustees.