Minister meets Galway officials to discuss water crisis

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche is meeting council officials in Galway today to discuss the contamination that has affected the local water supply.

Scores of people have fallen ill with a stomach bug as a result of the cryptosporidium contamination.

Thousands of households and businesses have also had to boil their water for the past few weeks in order to prevent illness

A political row erupted yesterday after the Mayor of Galway, Niall O'Brolchain, called on the Government to provide more funding to upgrade water treatment services.

Minister Roche subsequently said that the Government had already made €21m available for such projects in Galway, but the local council had failed to utilise the money.