“Are we going to have to boil water from now until easter?”

This statement was issued today by Paul Murphy TD for RISE

“People are now really angry that once again the water is not safe to drink – supposedly due to “weather”.

What has changed since the previous heavy rain? If Irish Water and Fingal Council have let the Leixlip plant degrade so that it can't handle winter rain, it could be weeks or months before the water is safe again.

Once again, thousands of ordinary people, especially children, older people and the sick are at risk because Irish Water and Fine Gael can't be trusted to provide safe water.

Last Sunday morning people in Celbridge and Leixlip noticed water in the Liffey like dark milky tea. We don't know if this was another unreported sewage discharge from the Osberstown sewage plant – like what happened last March.

Are Irish Water and Fingal Council incompetent, or is Eoghan Murphy starving them of the money needed to make our water safe?

It's outrageous that Paschal Donohoe is putting €1.5 billion into a 'rainy day' fund for a future bank bailout, when it should be used to fix the water system now.

Irish Water have already postponed upgrade works at Leixlip. Yet the EPA is letting them away with it by not enforcing its own recommendations.

Are Murphy and Donohoe leaning on the EPA to go easy on Irish Water and not push for the money for urgently needed upgrades?

We pay for treated water through taxation. I think people who are now having to buy water, if they can get it, should get together and bring their bills to Eoghan Murphy and Pascal Donohoe for refunds: let them know that you're not paying twice and you won't tolerate the continued health risks.”