My office has been in touch with Irish Water about this issue and I have also spoken personally to Minister Alan Kelly to press with him the necessity of having it addressed. Irish Water has confirmed to my office that they are hoping to publish a National Lead Strategy by some time in July.
In correspondence I have received from them, they have confirmed that they are responsible for the public supply side of the water, i.e. the water outside private property and that should any water test positive for high levels of lead in public pipes this will be addressed as a matter of urgency.
However, they have also advised that lead contamination can occur on the private side of the property and in this case it is the responsibility of the owner to have this addressed. Another possibility is for an additional level of treatment to be added to the water which would prevent it from absorbing high levels of lead in the pipes and keep them within the legal limits.
I have written to both Minister’s Kelly and Varadkar who have a shared responsibility over this area, to ask them to have this option considered to ensure that no one in the local area, or indeed across the country, is put at risk. I will be in touch again when I receive a response.