Fianna Fáil has hit out at the Government after it was revealed the public will pay Irish Water's consultancy bill in water charges due to commence tomorrow, Wednesday 1 October.

The party's Environment Spokesperson, Barry Cowen TD, said confirmation came from the Energy Regulator who was tasked with breaking the news on charges by the Government.

Deputy Cowen said: "Perhaps the Government was hoping that this injustice would go unnoticed in the publicity surrounding the confirmation of charges, but it will not.

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"The manner in which the Government tried to hide the massive cost of private consultants and the way in which the scale of it was finally revealed did enormous damage to the credibility of this quango. Today's confirmation that the public will be footing the bill directly through their new bills will cause further frustration.

"Fianna Fáil is also disappointed that the Regulator and the Government did not engage in any discussion with the Oireachtas to explain the dramatic reduction in free allowances, which we requested in our submission to the CER.

"This failure to explain the move is unfortunately typical of the way the Government has conducted its Irish Water business since day one."

(CD/JP)