Over the next few weeks, the main parties will enter negotiations in order to try and form a government. There is a lot of speculation about how this will come about with many political commentators indicating that Fianna Fail may support a minority government led by Fine Gael.
This morning, Ivan Yates stated that Enda Kenny will do anything to stay on as Taoiseach and with that in mind, he may begin negotiating on a red line issue for Fianna Fail, that of the water charges, a deeply unpopular policy from the last government.
The question is, if Irish Water is abolished, how much would it cost the state? Will you have to pay the next bill? And perhaps most importantly, will you be refunded for the bills you have paid?
Ivan stated: "A majority of the Dail, almost hundred TDs, voted and promised to get rid of household charges and water.
"I think what's going to happen here, for Enda Kenny to get a government together, either because of smaller parties, he's going to have to agree line one to do this or if he's going to be subject to Fianna Fail rules to form a minority government."
The cost of taking Irish Water apart would be very costly so the suggestion being put forward at the moment is to abolish the bills and not the utility.
Fiach Kelly of the Irish Times spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning about the issue: "The estimated cost of abolishing Irish Water would be €7bn to this State.
"The two big numbers that jump out are the €1.6bn that will be lost in water charges that are estimated to be collected and a further €1.6bn in savings as part of Irish Water business plan.
"Whatever is to be agreed between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, if there is something to be agreed, will probably be something of a half way house... water charges themselves being abolished, if the entire structure itself is going to be ripped apart, I possibly couldn't see that happening.
"If you read the Fianna Fail position, it's actually more nuanced... what they actually say is they accept, in principle, that water charges should be paid, they just don't think that now is the right time for it. At his manifesto launch, Micheal Martin did say that in 2021 they will look again at water charges.
"This isn't complete abolition. It's basically kicking the can down the road to look at again."
What happens to people who paid?
Fiach stated that nobody had promised refunds and most of the parties said it wouldn't be possible to refund people who have paid them.
He said: "A lot of people will be looking at their water bills now and going, why would I pay it if I'm not going to refund it and if I'm not going to have to pay it for the next five years."
This morning, we ran an online poll asking would people pay their water charges:
With speculation rising as to the future of Irish Water, will you pay your water charges going forward?
— Newstalk (@NewstalkFM) March 2, 2016
