Irish Water dispute with council staff has potential to spread

Attempts by Irish Water to draft in external contractors to step up leak detection and repair work have led to a bitter dispute with local authority staff that has wound up in the Labour Relations Commission.

While the dispute is currently between the utility company and water services staff at Cork City Council, it has the potential to become widespread given that Irish Water plans to engage contractors to do similar work in other local authorities (LAs).

The Irish Water Consultative Group (IWCG), a joint management/union group set up to smooth the way for the transfer of water functions from local authorities to Irish Water, warned last October that the “resolution of this matter is likely to have national implications where similar work is planned in other LAs”.