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No State compensation for businesses affected by water outage

The Housing Minister has warned that the Government will not be providing any compensation t...
Newstalk
Newstalk

12.29 28 Jul 2017


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No State compensation for busi...

No State compensation for businesses affected by water outage

Newstalk
Newstalk

12.29 28 Jul 2017


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The Housing Minister has warned that the Government will not be providing any compensation to businesses affected by the water crisis in the North East.

The water supply is slowly returning to normal in Louth and Meath after a week of disruption.

This morning, Irish Water said Duleek, Stamullen and the coastal areas of Laytown, Bettystown, Mornington, Donacarney and Grangerath should all have close to normal mains water supply today.

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Meanwhile, a full supply should be returning to the Ashbourne and Ratoath areas.

However the utility has warned that supply will take longer to reach a number of the high ground areas and outlying parts of the network.

While some customers may receive discoloured water for a time, Irish Water has insisted that tests show it is safe to drink.

Compensation

As the water returns, many companies are returning to business as usual this morning.

Most have suffered significant losses through the outage – however this morning, the Housing Minister, Eoghan Murphy ruled out any prospect of reimbursement from the Government or Irish Water.

No State compensation for businesses affected by water outage

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“Unfortunately we are not in position to give compensation because we have to prioritise our funding into actually fixing pipes and building new pipes,” he said. “But Irish Water have urged businesses to talk to their insurance companies about possible mechanisms for compensation there.”

Infrastructure works

In a statement yesterday, Irish Water said it will continue to monitor water quality over the coming days.

It said the delivery of water to vulnerable customers will continue and water stations will remain in place, “until we are satisfied that full supply is restored.”

The utilities managing director, Jerry Grant said the replacement of the entire pipe servicing the north east “must now be a priority for Irish Water.”

He said the work would take approximately 18 months and would be completed at a cost €2m-€3m.


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