Fianna Fáil has slammed the government for continuing to mishandle the water policy.

Spokesperson for the Environment Barry Cowen said that the water policy continues to be a complete "omnishambles".

He said: "The Dáil is due to debate the new water services bill this Thursday. The legislation was published and a hard copy put into each TD's post box but then bizarrely taken away again. It's a clear sign of the contempt and arrogance the government holds this Dáil in and the last minute nature of its policy changes.

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"We have had at least ten U-turns since water charges were originally introduced just two months ago. Now the government is clearly struggling to keep up with the changes it is making and was bizarrely forced to take away bills directly from TDs post boxes.

"This kind of off-the-cuff policy making is a complete disaster and ordinary households will end up paying dearly for it. Irish Water has been an unmitigated disaster since Fine Gael came up with the idea in 2009 and it's time to bring it to an end."

(CD/JP)