Ireland's EU Commissioner Phil Hogan says that Irish Water is not a mess.

Mr Hogan introduced the body for water during his time as environment minister.

The utility has seen several issues, most recently last night when Irish Water admitted that the containers for household water meters do not meet the technical standards set down by the Government.

The utility confirmed that most of their boundary boxes - which house the meter - are the plastic Grade C, whereas the Department of Environment rules require boundary boxes of Grade B standard, which are cast iron boxes.

But speaking at the National Ploughing Championships this morning, Commissioner Hogan said that the utility is not a mess - and that he was only doing what was required by the Troika.

But he would not be drawn on more questions about the utility.