Terrible state of our under-funded water services is indefensible
■ The renewed media coverage of the water supply issue highlights the hypocrisy with which this issue has been managed right back to the foundation of the State.
For nearly a century, the maintenance of the water/sewage infrastructure has been underfunded to the extent that a very high percentage of the supply is lost, to say nothing about pollution by sewage.
When the country went bankrupt, water charges for urban areas were introduced in the budget of 2009.
Rural areas have always paid for their water. As a consequence, all hell broke loose.
One political grouping – if they had been in power, this country would be somewhere between Greece and Venezuela – took to the streets and protested loudly with the almost blanket approval of our media.
The political group which has been in power for approximately 70pc of the time since independence, and who introduced charging in 2009, has joined them in opposing charges.
Since most of the developed world has water/sewage services which are paid for by users, the present position in this country in which people can waste water at will is indefensible.
A Leavy Sutton, Dublin 13