The Green Party are calling on Minister Eoghan Murphy to commission an international water expert to review the failing Leixlip plant and report back to government before Christmas.

This review needs to get to the heart of the failures which have afflicted 600,000 people over the last month and provide clear and actionable solutions.

Green Party MEP for Dublin Ciarán Cuffe said:

“Another boil water notice from Irish Water in Dublin. Something is not right when this happens twice in as many weeks. The breakdown of responsibilities between Irish Water and local authorities and the respective Service Level Agreements seems to be a contributing factor.

“It made sense to amalgamate the many water authorities in Ireland, but it seems like Irish Water has had to run before it could walk. Setting up a new utility is a major undertaking. Providing high quality potable water happens best when it is driven by pride as a public service, rather than by market-driven targets.

“It seems like alarm bells are going off, but nobody knows how to respond, though more like an organisational crisis, rather than simply a series of one-off incidents.

“What we need now is Minister Eoghan Murphy to commission a short sharp review, by a water supply expert from a sizeable EU city, for delivery this side of Christmas analysing what’s gone wrong, and what needs to happen.”