Coalition criticised on €107m water meter budget overrun

Sinn Féin has slammed the coalition amid media reports that the cost of installing water meters will be €107m higher than the detailed estimate.

RTÉ reporters at This Week discovered Bord Gáis underestimated the cost of the Irish Water metering programme as part of a detailed breakdown which they provided to the Government 18 months ago.

In the figures from May 2013, the estimate of the entire cost of the metering programme came to €431.56m. However, just weeks later it emerged that the final cost of the metering programme was €539 m.

Sinn Féin Spokesperson for the Environment and local government Brian Stanley said this is just the latest fiasco to add to a growing list.

"What we have here is a company with a blank cheque in its hand, and here we have the latest fiasco in relation to how to spend hard-pressed householders' [money]," he said.

"In a week when there's been so much controversy about Irish water, this is an absolute scandal."