Water charges will not be known until August

Home-owners will not know how much they will be charged for water until August, according to the body which will set the fees, despite reassurances from the Taoiseach that the rates would be revealed before the May elections.

Energy regulator Paul McGowan, who will also regulate water charges, said an “indicative” costs would be published in June for public consultation and the final fees would be available two months later. Irish Water will make its submission by the end of this month after which the regulator will begin to consider the issue.

The regulator set out a timeline of how this would be done to the Oireachtas Environment Committee yesterday.