Hogan knew of €40m Irish Water pay-out

Phil Hogan faced fresh questions over his handling of Irish Water as new claims surfaced that the former Environment Minister was aware of plans to spend huge sums on consultants.

Documents showed that Mr Hogan knew in December 2012 that the utility had allocated €40m from which consultants, and other costs would be paid, RTÉ reported.

When controversy broke over Irish Water’s spending of some €50m on consultants at the beginning of 2014, Mr Hogan denied any knowledge of how much the company was to spend on outside assistance.