Fianna Fáil has hit out after around 70,000 people in Meath and Louth have been left with no water supply.

TD for Meath East Thomas Byrne has called on the Taoiseach to convene a taskforce to co-ordinate the response to the ongoing water shortage crisis.

Irish Water has indicated that the issue will not be resolved until Thursday at the earliest.

He said: "The Government response to this crisis has left a lot to be desired. Meath County Council and some officials in Irish Water have been doing stellar work in trying to keep the community up to speed on the latest developments. However there is no leadership from the Government in response to this crisis. There is no co-ordination and the provision of water tankers is being done on an ad-hoc basis.

"This situation also highlights serious issues with how Irish Water functions. The public were led to believe that the creation of a single utility would make it much easier to response to incidents such as this. However the events of the last few days demonstrate otherwise. Meath County Council and Louth County Council are clearly the ones providing the first response on the ground.

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"The Taoiseach needs to convene a taskforce to co-ordinate the response to this crisis considering the number of people that are currently affected. The current situation, whereby water tankers are being supplied on an ad-hoc basis, can't continue. People shouldn't have to wait for hours to access clean drinking water. There needs be a level of foresight to determine what areas need additional drinking water before tankers run dry."

Fine Gael TD, Fergus O'Dowd, has said water tankers are on the way.

He said: "Locations in the affected areas have been selected for standalone water tanks and these will be replenished all day. This means that people will be able to go to these locations and fill up water containers.

"People must bring their own containers to avail of the water and are advised that water must be boiled before consumption as a precaution.

"The situation in Drogheda has reached crisis point. These are just temporary holding measures; I am calling on Irish Water to redouble their efforts to get this situation fixed.

"They have now assured me that a bespoke solution is now being engineered. This will not be ready until Tuesday and expected to be on site on Wednesday with water services beginning to be restored on Thursday.

"We need to get water reconnected to all local nursing homes and ensure that the supply in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is safeguarded."

(CD/MH)