Get rid of asbestos pipes for the sake of our health

Sir, The Managing Director of Irish Water responding to a burst pipe in Killarney said on RTE Radio 1: “We have these asbestos pipes in Kerry and they are at the point where they are bursting suddenly.”

I have to assume that these asbestos pipes break up inside before bursting and that would carry the obvious risk of people being exposed to asbestos in their domestic water supplies.

Asbestos was banned by the European Union in 1999 and it is entirely unacceptable that, almost 20 years later, water is being delivered to people’s homes through crumbling asbestos pipes.

The time has come to demand that asbestos pipes are got rid of as soon as possible. Sincerely,

Tom Powers,

Tralee.