Senior officials at Irish Water have confirmed they do not know the number of homes containing lead pipes in Ireland, despite the Minister for the Environment announcing 200,000 homes have been affected, according to Fianna Fáil.

The party's spokesperson on Environment and Local Government, Barry Cowen TD, is calling on Minister Alan Kelly to clarify why Irish Water will not stand over the figures he is using.

Deputy Cowen said: "Just last week Minister Kelly announced a grant scheme to partially cover the costs of replacing dangerous lead plumbing in up to 200,000 homes across the country. This is despite the fact that his predecessor Minister Hogan indicated that the Irish Water 'first fix' scheme would cover the full costs of replacing dangerous lead piping. Nonetheless last week’s news offered some encouragement for concerned homeowners.

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"However I recently met with senior officials at Irish Water, and what they told me contradicts the comments made by Minister Kelly when he outlined the details of the grant scheme."

Irish Water officials also confirmed they do not know the average cost of replacing the affected pipes.

Deputy Cowen continued: "The officials also pointed out that there was no correlation between the identification of lead pipes and the roll out of water meters across the country. This cast’s further doubt over Minister Kelly's judgement considering he indicated that the roll out of water meters would allow Irish Water to identify all of the lead piping that needs replacing."

(CD/MH)