Maintain water charges, or else, seems to be the message issued by the EU Commission today.
According to EU officials, former Minister for the Environment John Gormley (and by extension, Ireland), made a firm committment to introduce water charges back in 2010, thus losing any previous privilege or derogation that the country may have enjoyed to that respect.
According to the EU, there is no legal way that water charges can be scrapped now as they are a ‘established practice,’ as far the EU is concerned.