Fergus O’Dowd calls on head of Irish Water to ‘step aside’

Former junior minister Fergus O'Dowd, who was responsible for setting up Irish Water, has called on John Tierney to resign.

“I think Mr Tierney should step aside,” he told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke .

Mr O'Dowd, a former Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, said he was speaking for himself and not for other Fine Gael TDs.

“I feel that the public would like to see a new management team in place,” he said.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes but we have a chance to make it right,” he added.

Earlier this month, Mr O’Dowd said Irish Water has “abjectly failed” in its approach to introducing water charges.

Mr O’Dowd helped establish Irish Water during his time at the Department of the Environment.

Yesterday, Irish Water managing director John Tierney denied that he was asked to step down from his position and said he has “one of the most difficult jobs anyone was ever asked to undertake”.

Mr Tierney met Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly in Leinster House yesterday and said afterwards he is committed to seeing out his tenure at the head of Irish Water.