The Green Party has hit out at Fianna Fáil over its plans to prosecute wasters of water.

Leader Eamon Ryan said the proposals could lead up to 165,000 court cases.

Mr Ryan said: "Are Fianna Fáil really proposing pursuing all of these households through the courts?

"They also insist on an end to metering. Which doesn't square with their Water Services Act idea. How are they going to prosecute people without measuring their consumption? District metering, while effective for detecting leaks, won't be sufficient for this.

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"Fianna Fáil need to drop the populism, and put good public policy before politics. We have 60% of water meters installed – let's use them, in addition to district metering, to detect leaks, measure consumption, and monitor waste. Charging continued waste of water per-litre is much fairer than a court appearance and potential €5,000 euro fine. Fianna Fáil need to be challenged on their inconsistent policies."

(CD/LM)