No Phil Hogan apology for Irish Water ‘any time soon’

People expecting former environment minister Phil Hogan to apologise for his key role in the creation of Irish Water will be waiting a long time, the Government chief whip has warned.

Paul Kehoe suggested Mr Hogan, who Taoiseach Enda Kenny made a European Commissioner after his heavily-criticised tenure at the Department of Environment, will not address the subject until his memoirs.

Mr Kenny and other ministers have admitted serious mistakes were made in setting up Irish Water, though Mr Hogan has stood over the utility and his role in its creation.

Mr Kehoe said former Fianna Fáil leaders had also taken their time to apologise for major mistakes.

“When Taoiseach Cowen and Taoiseach Ahern retired, it took them quite a number of years to come back and apologise to the Irish people for a far bigger problem than Irish Water,” Mr Kehoe told the Irish Examiner.

“Maybe in his memoirs Phil might have something to say about Irish Water.”

The Cabinet member admitted the Government had made a string of mistakes on Irish Water, but had now got its act together.

“The Government did make mistakes as did Irish Water, but we were setting up a huge infrastructure here,” Mr Kehoe said.

As part of the emergency reordering of the Irish Water charging system after Mr Hogan had been moved to Brussels, the chief whip distanced the Government from the former environment minister’s now infamous threat to turn supplies down to a “trickle” for families that refused to pay the controversial levy.

“That was Phil’s own view,” he said. “I think Phil has moved on to a different role now, he is not involved in domestic Irish politics now. No one’s water will be cut off and the Taoiseach has repeated that.”

Mr Hogan provoked outrage in January 2014 when it was revealed that Irish water had spent some €50m of taxpayers’ money on consultants.

“I don’t micro-manage. You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs,” he said at the time.