According to recent study carried out by Irish Water which shows up to one in five householders says they are unwilling to pay their water charges.
It is believed that as many as 270,000 eligible households are unlikely to pay the charges when the bills arrive next January.
According to the report one of the most common reason given for not paying the charges was because respondents disagreed “in principle” with water charges, followed by affordability issues, poor water quality, a belief they were already paying for water, and water wastage through leaking pipes.
The water charges came into effect last week under strong criticism from the public, who many feel that the fees are unjust.