Irish Water and Galway County Council are being urged to "step up" and identify the properties that urgently need their lead pipes replaced.

Sinn Féin Senator, Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, said it is "outrageous" that many houses in Galway have contaminated water, and is calling on Irish Water to scrap its plans to install water meters and use the money to replace lead pipes.

He said: "Sinn Féin have had complaints from many areas and are getting independent tests done to assess the level of danger in some areas, but Irish Water should be the ones providing customers with locations where their water supply could be at risk from lead contamination.

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"Irish Water is refusing to step up and perform tests in all areas, leaving residents to investigate the matter themselves. The financial burden shouldn't fall on households to upgrade the pipes within their homes. This is unacceptable.

"In many cases it is the local authorities who were responsible for water supply that installed them and residents had no input into the type of piping being installed. This new crisis of lead contamination in the water affects homes and business premises built before 1970 which have lead piping.

"The Government has wasted a massive amount of money on the corporate monstrosity of Irish Water. We have seen close to €100 million spent on incompetent 'consultants', €570 million so far on water meters, even though people are being charged a flat rate, and millions more on inflated executive salaries.

"It is not too late for the Government to abandon Irish Water and the double taxation that is the water charge, and to invest instead in a properly run, efficient, and safe water system administered by the public officials who have a vast well of experience and know-how in the field."

(CD/JP)