Two members of the public confronted Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy about the ongoing water outages in Drogheda and he arrived in the Staleen estate in the town at 6.30pm to brief the media about the shortages.
Before Mr Murphy spoke to the media, a local resident stopped the minister and criticised the lack of information coming from Irish Water about the expected duration of the water outage.
Sean Lynch said: "There is no trust. Irish Water said it would be back on Saturday, then Sunday, now we are waiting 'til the weekend. If you had said it would be gone for a week, we would have been better off."
Local residents criticised Minister Eoghan Murphy over the response to the water crisis in Drogheda pic.twitter.com/h559Zh9aS4
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 25, 2017
Mr Murphy replied by saying there was no indication at the outset that initial fixes were not going to work.
Irish Water has said it could now be the weekend before all water supplies are returned to normal to householders and businesses in Drogheda and surrounding areas of Co Louth, as well as parts of east Meath.
Mr Murphy has said it is "the biggest crisis Irish Water has faced," adding that he was only made aware of the seriousness of the situation on Sunday when a third attempt at resolving it failed.
He said officials from his department have been "working with Irish Water to make sure that everything that need to be done is being done. We are seeing a national coordinated response."
On the issue of communication of information to the people who have been affected, the minister said there has been a question around communication and lessons for the future about how to communicate better.
The minister has pledged to fix the issue as quickly as possible.
He said that he has made it clear the Irish Water needs to replace this particular piece of pipe which is vulnerable.
He said it is a particularly critical piece of infrastructure and the 2.2km stretch of pipeline will be prioritised for repair.
Around 50,000 homes and businesses have been left without water since the water main in Staleen, Co Meath, burst last week.
Water tankers are once again being deployed in the area.
The Defence Forces has said it is providing two 10,000 litre water browsers and four 1,000 litre water browsers to Irish Water and 21 personnel from 27 Infantry Battalion will be deployed.
Irish Water has asked the 33,000 customers in Drogheda receiving a rolling water supply to conserve water supply. This is a rolling schedule so only one area will have supply at any one time.
It said as each area has supply, the other areas will be without water and not all houses in the areas will receive water at the same time due to demand or possible airlocks.
A programme of water rationing is being put in place in order to manage the remaining water resource in the area.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Irish Water Managing Director Jerry Grant said that because of the complexity of the piping it has not been possible to carry out the repairs in the normal time frame.
Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government Barry Cowen has said it is "obvious" from the company's response that Irish Water does not have the capacity or expertise to deal with the crisis.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, he called on Minister Murphy to "ensure there is coordination between Irish Water, between the local authorities in question, the surrounding authorites, and their respective fire services together with the army and civil defence to ensure not only that the leak is corrected but community needs are met."
Mr Cowen said places like nursing homes and businesses need some degree of certainty around the completion of repairs and emergency supplies being made available to them.
Irish Water said Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda has been prioritised to maintain supply to the hospital.
It says supply is also being maintained to the commercial centre in Drogheda town in the Mell area, Donore Road, Marley's Lane, Cement Road, Ballsgrove, Marian Park, Crosslanes, and some adjoining estates in the vicinity of these locations.
Arrangements are being put in place by Louth County Council to have bottled water delivered to those most in need in Drogheda and the south Louth area.
Louth County Council and Irish Water say that over the coming hours bottled water will be delivered to 240 households identified as "vulnerable water users".
The water will be distributed by the Civil Defence and other agencies.
Due to the shortage of bottled water in the Drogheda area, some supermarkets and stores in the town are currently limiting the amount of bottled water being sold per customer.
Irish Water warns that even when the water main is repaired, it could take a number of days before full supply is restored.
Water will continue to be transported from across the country today to help the thousands of households who are without water.
People are advised to bring their own containers to avail of the water at the temporary water stations at locations across the region.
Louth temporary water stations:
Stameen on the Dublin Road
Termonabbey
Marleys Lane
Bothar Brugha or Hardmans Gardens
Ballsgrove shops
Shop St North Quay
Clogherhead - outside the amusements on Main Street
Collon side of St Joseph's Church Lower Mell
Right hand side of entrance to Marley's Court, Marley's Lane
Drogheda Retail Park, Donore Road near Costa Coffee
Termonfeckin outside the national school
Manley Construction Site, Avourwen Meadows, Plantin Road
Sixteen road tankers have been deployed to supplement the mains water supply, to replenish the above temporary water stations and to supply priority customers around Drogheda.
Drogheda town water rationing:
The following areas will be supplied with water from 9am until 11.30am as part of the rationing plan:
Boyne Meadow
Laurences Park
Moneymore
The following area will be supplied from 11.30am to 3.30pm:
Dublin Road and Donore Industrial Estate
The following areas will be supplied with water from 3pm to 6pm:
Open Collon Rd
North Quay to Termonfeckin Rd
Ashfield (1pm)
Hardmans Gardens (Golden Bowl) - supplement Lourdes Hospital
Cord Rd
The following areas will be supplied with water from 6pm until 9pm:
Marleys Lane
Rathmullan
Rathmullan Road
Loughboy/Mell
Ballymackenny Rd
Highlands
The following areas will be supplied with water from 9pm to midnight:
Boyne Meadow
Laurences Park
Moneymore
As this is a rolling schedule only one area will have supply at any one time. As each area has supply, the other areas will be without water.
In east Meath stations are located at the following locations:
Duleek: 3 (Church) 2 (St Cianans Villas) 1 (Industrial Estate) - Fire Service
Knockcommon/Rathdrinagh: 1 (National School)
Rossnaree: 1 (Church))
Ashbourne: 2 (Race hill)
Donore: 1 (Church)
Lagavoreen: 1 (Entrance to housing estate)
Grange Rath: 2 (Entrance to housing estate)
Ratoath: 2 (National School Fairyhouse Road ) 2 ( St Paul's School) - ( Nursing Home Town Centre)
Stamullen: 2 ( Church)
Clonalvey: 1 (Church)
Ardcath: 1 (Church)
Kilmoon: 1 (Snailbox car park)
Curragha: 1 (Church)
Skryne: 1 (GAA Pitch)
Kentstown: 1 (Londis car park)
Ashbourne Town: 1 Community Centre - 1 Retail Park - 1 Supervalu car park
Bettystown: 1 (Tesco car park)
Donecarney: 1 (Church)
Colaiste Na Hinse Secondary School: 1
Mornington: 1 (Harry's shop)
Kilbride: 2 (Church)
