Local authority charges have risen by more than ten times the rate of inflation over the past three years.
The consumer price index indicates the average charges for water, refuse and miscellaneous charges levied by local authorities have risen by over 104% since the start of 2002.
Consumer price inflation during that period has been 9.8%.
The inflation figures also show that hospital service charges have risen by six times the rate of inflation. They are up 59.9% in three years.
The prices paid for goods and services in Ireland rose by an average of 2.2% in the 12 months to February. This represents a marginal reduction in the rate of inflation, which had been 2.3% in January.
The figures show prices rose by 0.8% during the month of February alone, mainly as a result of the ending of the January sales period.
