The Taoiseach has ruled out the introduction of water charges, while speaking to Newstalk in the United States. 

Earlier today, Housing Minister James Browne said charges are not being considered "at this time" for households who use an excessive amount of water. 

The announcement was seized upon by left-wing TDs, who predicted the Government would encounter fierce opposition - as Enda Kenny did, when he introduced the charges during the austerity years. 

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in favour of water charges,” People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy said. 

“I don’t believe they’ve changed their mind on those fronts. 

“I think they’re ultimately in favour of water privatisation. 

“But, like I say, I think they’ll be making a major political mistake if they do so.” 

Kitchen taps left running. Picture by: Alamy.com

The charges were dropped in 2017, after widespread refusal to pay by many people. 

The Government accepted that water would be paid for through general taxation. 

However, not everyone was happy.  

Water flows from a bathroom tap. Picture by: Illustration by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Pádraig Ó Céidigh was a Senator when water charges were introduced and on the Oireachtas Committee that oversaw the charges and believes Ireland would have benefited in a number of ways if they had been introduced. 

“The point was made very strongly by a number of TDs and Senators on the Water Committee - particularly from the Green Party,” he told The Hard Shoulder. 

“They said, ‘Look, we don’t want water wasted. We don’t want people just wasting water or using water that doesn’t necessarily need to be used.’ 

“So, actually it came from that sphere of the house really.” 

Mr Ó Céidigh added that the State is legally obliged to conserve water. 

“There’s an EU water framework directive which speaks [about] the excessive use of water,” he said. 

“In other words, if we didn’t implement something like this, there was a possibility that we could end up in breach of the European Water Framework. 

“That would be the directive and a reasonably significant issue for the Government to deal with.” 

Main image: A split of Micheál Martin and tap water. Pictures by: Alamy.com