THE DEPARTMENT OF Environment and Irish Water will meet the costs of burst pipes the water body has said.
Reports today suggested that one in 50 homes in Dublin City that had meters installed required repair work, at a cost of over €130,000.
While calls were made for the water body to pay for the repairs, a statement today said that that was already the case.
The statement also put the blame for the broken pipes on the ageing pipe network, not Irish Water contractors.
“[I]t was always anticipated that in the course of installing a meter, pre-existing leaks and other latent defects due to the age or condition of the water pipes would be discovered.
“These leaks are pre-existing leaks and are not caused by Irish Waters contractors.”
The statement added that the cost of repairs was originally borne by the Department of Environment last year and Irish Water from now on.
“In order to ensure that there was no delay to the metering project and to ensure that no local authority was financially disadvantaged by having to redeploy resources, the DECLG provided funding to contribute towards this expenditure incurred between the start of the metering programme and 31 December 2013.
“In 2014, the cost of these repairs is part of the operating costs of Irish water.”
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