Irish parliament votes to formally end water charges

Ireland's Dail Eireann, the lower house of parliament, on Thursday voted to accept a report on the future funding of domestic water services.

The report, accepted by 96 votes to 48, formally ended the water charges regime introduced by the last government in 2015.

The report, published by a special parliamentary committee, said only people who excessively use water will be charged and that refunds will be issued to those who have already paid.

Tap water in Ireland until 2015 is free. A new system of domestic water charges was introduced in 2015 for homes that are connected to a public water supply or to public wastewater services.

Irish Water, the national water services authority, administers the charges.

The report also said a referendum will be held to prevent Irish Water from being privatized. Endit