Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has described the recent water crisis in Louth and Meath as another incentive to implement an ambitious water supply capital investment programme and described the hundreds millions of invested in the installation of household water meters while old pipes were leaking as ‘wasteful and illogical.’

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“It’s clear that a lot of the water infrastructure that we depend upon for clean water is old, not fit for purpose, creaking at the seams and leaking like a sieve in some areas. Not only is 40% of the water leaking from the supply system before the water reaches homes a significant annual cost to citizens, now we can see that the collapse of 50 year old infrastructure is wiping out the supply to whole regions.

“In a rush to make water a financial commodity the Government decided to invest hundreds of millions in household water meters while much of the old cast iron pipes leaked like sieves. Any fool could see that the first step should have been to fix the leaks but our geniuses knew a better way that would essentially reward private entities at a huge cost to the taxpayer.

“They then invested hundreds of millions more in Irish Water who modestly passed on huge bonuses to themselves for essentially existing.

“The Governments approach has sought to fool citizens on the water issue. They claim that the water meters are all about water preservation while 4 out of every 10 pipes leak and all the while clean treated water seeps into the ground. 50,000 homes and business in Louth and Meath were without water because of a lack of investment and poor decision making.

“My party, Sinn Féin, believes a new approach is needed that includes essential proactive repairs combined with investment, is the only logical way forward.

“Unfortunately while waiting for that approach to be delivered many communities and householders throughout the State don’t know where the next water crisis will hit next.”

ENDS