Irish Water seeks to avoid passing €5m metering costs onto taxpayer

Irish Water and billionaire Denis O’Brien are locked in an escalating legal row over who should pay for a series of unexpected water metering costs linked to protesters’ interference with the equipment, which could end up costing the taxpayer €5m.

Both parties have employed lawyers to argue they are not responsible for the massive bill to pay for video security for workers who have been faced with protesters, repair works on meters, and delays in putting the equipment in place.

Details revealed on the same day as gardaí sent eight files concerning Socialist Party TD Paul Murphy and others to the DPP recommending charges be brought show Siteserv, the company owned by media mogul Mr O’Brien, and its subsidiary GMC Sierra have paid out thousands of euro to date as a direct result of the protester-linked issues.