A new day, a new Irish Water controversy. The cornerstone of the whole operation - the Coalition parties' plans to keep the organisation off of the country's balance sheet - seems to have failed to get by Eurostat, Europe's statistics agency.
This could add some €1bn to the debit column in the State's accounts, according to the Minister for Finance.
Irish Water was supposed to stand on its own as a private market corporation - but it seems that it has had to rely too heavily on government assistance, and will ultimately end up on the State's balance sheet.
What is Eurostat saying?
The plan was that Irish Water could be kept off of the country's balance sheet - to do so the Government had to prove that half of Irish Water's revenues come from customers.
Irish Waters' difficulties have been well-documented, as has the fact that its payment rate is currently at 46 percent, a figure which is has argued represents a solid start, and a statistic which anti-water protest groups have used to argue that the majority of the public are not willing to pay the controversial charges.
Reports suggest that the €100 annual grant that the Government agreed to pay to households who register with Irish Water is the issue which has moved the corporation onto our balance sheet.
The Government has argued that this these grants to individuals are not Irish Water funding - but Eurostat seems to have disagreed with this interpretation.
Will this change Budget 2016?
All the budget projections which the Government has made in public have factored in the possibility that Irish Water would end up on its balance sheet.
Fine Gael and Labour intend to unveil up to €1.5bn in tax cuts and spending increases in its pre-election budget - and there is no reason why this figure would change.
If it stayed off-balance sheet, the Government could have had more money to play with - but it is unlikely that it would have availed of this option.
The Government has already been warned by the Irish Fiscal Council and European institutions about the dangers of a giveaway budget before the election at this early point in Ireland's economic recovery.
If the ruling is passed this could affect future spending - it would be likely to hold until 2017 and EU rules limit government spending relative to national debt.
Irish Water going on to Ireland's balance sheet would add some €500m to our national debt - but this figure is likely to rise.
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show in October Finance Minister, Michael Noonan said that the actual cost would be likely to be closer to €1bn as the cost of Irish Water's borrowing will increase as it will no longer be borrowing as a commercial entity.
Doorstep politics...
The Government parties' plan heading into the new General Election is to sell the narrative that it's got Ireland working again - that they inherited a highly volatile economic situation and turned Ireland into the fastest growing economy in Europe.
The whole Irish Water debacle stands at odds with this platform of sensible/competent governing - and offers a rallying point for those who want to attack the government.
Irish Water has long been a scandal, Eurostat putting it back on our books would just be the icing on the cake.
It highlights how poorly managed the whole operation has been, and it is likely to breath life back into the anti-water charge protest movement.
Right2Water, the key organisers of the demonstrations which brought some 100,000 people out on the streets of Dublin is holding another march on August 29th.
The mishandling of the implementation of water charges has been the most obvious blotch on this Government's copy book.
It damages the 'steady leadership' story that Fine Gael and Labour will be selling to Irish voters, and offers an easy target for those who want to attack the Coalition's record in government.
Europe putting the cost back on the national books will make the whole Irish Water debacle that little bit harder to explain away in debates and on doorsteps come election time.
