Water meter work halted in Donegal

Irish Water has confirmed that it has suspended the installation of water meters in parts of Donegal after what the utility described as “targeted aggression” towards staff installing the devices.

The company said that workers employed by GMC Sierra, a subsidy of Siteserv, were targeted by individuals in parts of north and west Donegal.

“Unfortunately there have been a number of instances of targeted aggression towards individual members of the metering teams in the Inishowen and Glenties area of Donegal which has necessitated the temporary cessation of works by the regional Contractor, GMC Sierra in these areas,” an Irish Water spokesperson said.

“This work will be rescheduled at a later stage to enable works to be carried out in a safe manner. Meter installations are continuing in the north-west region. To date in excess of 680,000 meters have been installed nationwide and over 70,000 in the north-west region.”

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Irish Water said most of the metering teams are local workers. “The safety of our staff and the staff of our contractors is of paramount importance to Irish Water and our contractor GMC Sierra.

“It is a testament to their professionalism and dedication that all incidents have been managed in an appropriate manner and the overall targets for the metering programme continue to be met within the demanding quality standards,” the spokesperson said.

Irish Water said individual incidents have been reported to the gardaí and are being investigated.

Meanwhile the Anti-Austerity Alliance yesterday held a press conference outside Irish Water’s head office, where it delivered a petition demanding the release of payment figures of water charges.

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