‘EU exposed lie at the heart of Irish Water’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been called on to urgently outline what the Coalition plans to do after Irish Water failed a crucial European test to keep the utility’s debt away from public-spending calculations.

Members of the Coalition scrambled to defend Irish Water’s position after the Eurostat negative ruling added an extra €500m to the country’s deficit.

The EU statistic agency’s criticism of the water-charging system also spurred opposition figures into calling for Irish Water to be abolished and for the billing scheme to be reviewed.