Sinn Féin has raised serious concerns after a report by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that of the 2,676 private water supplies registered in Ireland, 37% were not monitored for E.coli.

Spokesperson on Water Eoin Ó Broin TD said the findings of the report should serve as "a wake up call" and highlights the lack of investment in water services.

-- Advertisement --

The Dublin Mid-West TD said: "Worryingly, of the private supplies not monitored, 270 are hotels or restaurants, 99 serve national schools or childcare centres, and 23 serve nursing homes. The report also estimates that 30% of the 170,000 household wells across the state are contaminated by E.coli.

"What is clear from this report is that there needs to be greater local authority intervention. Only 48 audits of private water supplies were carried out by eight local authorities in 2015 and no prosecutions were reported to the EPA.

"It is time for the Government to take these EPA reports more seriously and act accordingly to ensure that the public is not at risk."

(CD/LM)