To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the Government's proposal for water charging in Northern Ireland. [134152]

£3 billion must be invested in Northern Ireland's water and sewerage services over the next 20 years, to comply with European Directives on water quality and protect public health and the environment. To sustain this scale of investment it is necessary that Northern Ireland's water and sewerage services should become self-financing and be delivered outside Central Government.