Irish Water’s John Tierney denies being asked to resign

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

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

He said Mr Kelly asked for a “renewed emphasis” on customer relations, as well as dealing with TDs and senators making representations on behalf of the public.

“I had a very good meeting with the Minister, we covered all of the issues at present,” Mr Tierney said.

“I suppose the very heartening thing was was he recognised the huge scale of what we are being asked to do and he wants a renewed emphasis on all of the issues to do with the customer, obviously in relation to political representation from the TDs and councillors because they are representing many of the people.”

Mr Tierney was asked if anyone asked him to step aside in recent days, as his position came under intense political pressure until Taoiseach Enda Kenny declared his confidence in him yesterday.

“Nobody has asked me to step down and as you have seen I have excellent support. Again, there is a recognition that this is probably one of the most difficult jobs anyone was ever asked to undertake and I’ve been up for the task since day one and I’ll be up for the task for the rest of my tenure.”

He said Mr Kelly “recognised as well we have taken on a very difficult job and we are going to do that job and to deliver what was required of us in terms of a utility that will deliver a very good service for the people”.

When asked about bonuses in Irish Water, Mr Tierney replied: “My staff are doing a fantastic job. It is a humbling experience to see the work they are doing on behalf of the people.”

Also speaking afterwards, Mr Kelly said Irish Water needed to deal with its customers in a “fantastic way”. He also said he raised a number of issues with Mr Tierney but wouldn’t go into the detail of a “private meeting”.

“Irish Water needs to be a customer facing company, it needs to deal with customers in a fantastic way to ensure that stakeholder management is a priority and organisationally, it needs to meet its targets. I’ve great confidence following on from the meeting that Irish Water will be in a position to do that.”

Mr Kelly claimed the meeting is “going to shape the future of Irish Water in the years to come”, and said the issue of bonuses should be dealt with by the new, combined board of Irish Water and Ervia.