The recent leak in the Dublin Port Tunnel is "a minor operational matter" that will not delay the completion of the project, the Dublin city manager has said.
John Fitzgerald also said reports that the tunnel would exceed its budget of €752 million were "complete balderdash".
Addressing a meeting of Dublin City Council, he said the leak had received inordinate publicity, but it was being fixed and "is not causing any undue safety or programme concerns".
Responding to a question from Cllr Christie Burke, who said television pictures of the leak "make it look like Niagara Falls", Mr Fitzgerald said the fault was "part and parcel of the routine issues that arise on a huge engineering project like this".
"The leak looked worse than it is and made for great pictures but the reality is that it is minor."
Its scale was equivalent to two household taps running simultaneously, he said, and gave engineers no reason to expect that the anticipated completion date of April or May would not be met.
Mr Fitzgerald also described suggestions that the tunnel could eventually cost .3 billion as "complete balderdash".
"The overall project budget is €752 million. The final cost will not be significantly more than the above figure. In effect, the Dublin Port Tunnel will come in close to the current budget cost."
He said persistent allegations that the tunnel had caused serious structural damage to hundreds of houses were also untrue.
Tunnelling through rock can cause vibrations in houses above the tunnel-boring machine, and this can cause minor cracks in plaster. Before tunnelling began, the council had guaranteed residents above the route that their houses would be surveyed before and after the tunnelling, and that any repairs would be paid for by the council.
To date 235 householders had contacted the council with possible claims. These "are not serious in structural terms", and 124 house repairs have been carried out. "It is likely that the total claims will be less than €1.5 million."
Addressing criticism of the tunnel's height, Mr Fitzgerald said it accorded with best EU standards, and the council could not justify recommending to the Government that extra taxpayers' money be spent to meet the needs of a small minority of users.
"If we were to start designing and building the Dublin Port Tunnel again today we would build it to the exact same height as has been completed. The tunnel is in accordance with best EU standards. The clearance height is 4.9m, with an operating height of 4.65m.
"More than 98 per cent of the HGVs [heavy goods vehicles] currently using Dublin Port will be able to use the tunnel, as will double-deck buses."