Some Uisce Éireann staff paid bonuses of up to €30,000, PAC told

Uisce Éireann's director of asset management Sean Laffey said that, from a leakage point of view, 'much of the network dating from the 70s and 80s isn’t standing up well'.

Uisce Éireann (formerly Irish Water) has said it hopes that by the end of this year only a third of all the water that passes through the network will be lost to leaks.

Its chief executive Niall Gleeson said it wants the percentage to be down to 32% — that compares to 48% when Irish Water was first set up just over a decade ago.