Water charges to come to boil at committee

The author of a controversial government-commissioned report on the water charges is set to be grilled today during the the first public meeting of a new cross-party committee tasking with deciding the future of the divisive fees.

Kevin Duffy, the chairman of the independent commission on water charges, will face the questions from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Labour, AAA-PBP, Greens and Independent TDs during a three-hour meeting this afternoon.

The meeting, to be chaired by Independent senator Padraig Ó Céidigh, is the first in a series of public meetings scheduled for between today and March, at which point the new committee will be asked to recommend to the Dáil whether water charges should return or be scrapped entirely.