Fianna Fáil Leader on Dublin City Council, Councillor Mary Fitzpatrick, has demanded that Irish Water foot the €136,000 bill for leaks caused by the installation of water meters.

Councillor Fitzpatrick has said it's "disgraceful" that Dublin City Council, which had to hand over millions of euro in assets to Irish Water, was still forced to repair the damage caused by Irish Water contractors in fitting meters.

She said: "Irish Water has not fixed one single leak or damaged pipe since it was created. It won't even pay to fix leaks that its own contractors created when fitting water meters. It's an absolute disgrace.

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"All Irish Water has done is spend taxpayers' money on generous pay and top-ups for staff, glossy logos and PR campaigns and outrageous consultancy bills.

"The Super Quango stripped Dublin City Council of its water infrastructure – worth an estimated €2billion – yet it still expects us to fix leaks it created with metering.

"Reports in the Irish Times this week show that council workers have fixed around 250 leaks at a cost of €136,000. While the Department of the Environment has reimbursed some of this, it's refusing to pay any more. This problem is set to continue as metering in the city is far from complete, and the council, which has already seen its funding cut by Government, simply cannot afford to pick up the tab.

"What else was Irish Water established for, if not to fix leaks and repair the water infrastructure? So far the Super Quango has completely ignored its obligations to citizens and just used taxpayers' money for whatever it wants. All of this was sanctioned by Minister Phil Hogan who went out of his way to shroud the set up and operation of his Irish Water in secrecy."

(CD/JP)