There must be full accountability \u2013 and consequences \u2013 after it was revealed that diesel from an Irish Rail fuel facility has been leaking into the River Liffey for over a year, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s environment spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis week, the Journal reported that the pollution incident was first discovered in March 2025. Yet we are only hearing about it now \u2013 14 months later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorse still, attempts to fix the leaking pipe have been unsuccessful to date, further hampering the ongoing clean-up operation of the affected area downstream from Samuel Beckett Bridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cEfforts to contain the spill \u2013 by putting flimsy looking floating barriers in place \u2013 can be described, at best, as ineffective, and, at worst, farcical.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Dublin City Council claims the pollution has been confined to a specific area of the river, this is hard to take seriously when diesel can still be clearly seen in the water on both sides of the floating plastic barrier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also deeply concerning that we still don\u2019t know how much fuel leaked into the Liffey before the incident was first discovered. Diesel is a pollutant that can have a devastating impact on marine life and has the potential to cause serious harm to the Dublin Bay Biosphere, which is protected under EU law.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have now written to the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy, calling on all the relevant agencies \u2013 Irish Rail, Dublin Port and Dublin City Council \u2013 to appear before it and account for how such a serious pollution incident could happen; why it was kept out of the public eye for more than a year; and why the containment response appears to be so inadequate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must also provide a full assessment of the damage caused to marine life in the Liffey and outline what impact the pollution has had on the wider Dublin Bay area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be full accountability \u2013 and consequences \u2013 for the pollution of our capital city\u2019s main waterway.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 28, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There must be full accountability \u2013 and consequences \u2013 after it was revealed that diesel from an Irish Rail fuel facility has been leaking into the River Liffey for over a year, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s environment spokesperson, said: \u201cThis week, the Journal reported that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[852,851,727,853,848,268,850,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dublin-city-council","category-dublin-port","category-environment","category-epa","category-irish-rail","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-liffey","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n