The Environment Minister says he is hopeful that water restrictions in the greater Dublin area can be lifted later this week.

Phil Hogan has also revealed that the problem was with the addition of chemicals to the water at intake at the Ballymore Eustace plant in Co. Kildare.

Production at the facility is now improving, though not enough as of yet to lift the night-time restrictions.

This afternoon, Dublin City Council said "Production at Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant has begun to improve, although it is still well below normal production levels".

"Coupled with this, storage levels at our treated water reservoirs remain at an unsustainably low level. Accordingly, the current water restrictions will remain in place each evening, from tonight until at least Thursday 7th November".

Supply has been curtailed during night time hours since last week. Minister Hogan has been explaining what went wrong.