I propose to take Questions Nos. 196 and 197 together.
Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels.
Over the last number of weeks, Irish Water has been sending application packs to approximately 2 million households. The administration and operation of this application process is an operational matter for Irish Water and one in which I have no function. I understand that Irish Water expects that about 750,000 responses will be back by end week, and the bulk of these will be customers.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.