Howlin Says Irish Water Needs To 'ratchet Up' Spending

Howlin says irish water needs to 'ratchet up' spending

The Public Expenditure Minister says Irish Water needs to 'ratchet up' spending, after it was revealed that supplies for one million people are at risk. The Environmental Protection Agency says 121 water supplies across the country require urgent upgrades - because of inadequate disinfection and management systems. Minister Brendan Howlin says Irish Water has a programme of investment to address the failings. He says it needs to get spending to fix the problem. "Of course they ahve to ratchet up the volume of money they spend - and rather than have Irish Water, as they have done in the past, compete with Health and Education for scarce capital resources they'll now be able to raise their own money and ratchet that up to deal with the real problems that exist" he added.