Car tax payments for motorists in County Kildare are being pumped into Irish Water, Fianna Fáil has revealed.

The Government is said to have paid out hundreds of millions of pounds of motor taxes into Irish Water instead of investing it to improve roads and transport infrastructure.

Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare South, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, said: "Irish Water has been an outrageously expensive and unnecessary venture that has cost taxpayers dearly. €180 was spent on establishing the super quango, with €90 million spent on consultants alone.

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"Taxpayers are also expected to foot the bill for the water metering process at a cost of €540. And not one extra cent of this has gone towards fixing a leaky pipe or addressing problems with supply in the county.

"Taxpayers are already expected to swallow the fact that a large proportion of local property tax revenue is being diverted to Irish Water, rather than being invested back into local services.

"Now we learn that a large chunk of our motor taxes are also being diverted to pay for this super quango, rather than being invested back into our roads.

"This is on top of the water taxes that families across this county will be forced to pay this year. And still not one Kildare community has seen any benefit whatsoever from the new management of our water services."

(CD/JP)