The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney has said the Expert Commission on Water Charges will "not be able to ignore" the European Commission's insistence that Ireland will be in breach of a key EU directive if it abolishes water charges.
However, he said that after its deliberations the Expert Commission will have to make its own "independent" conclusions.
Speaking following a meeting with the EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella in Brussels, Mr Coveney said the expert group was "about reasurring the public that this isn't a political decision" when it makes its final recommendations in four or five months' time.
He said: "I hope we will have the maturity then politically to be able to take those recommendations, seriously and to make political decisions on the back of that."
Mr Coveney said the Expert Commission would have to take account of our "international obligations" under the Water Framework Directive.
The former chairman of the Labour Court Kevin Duffy was appointed the new Chairman of the Expert Commission on Water Charges this week.
His appointment came after Joe O'Toole announced he was stepping down following criticism of comments he made in relation to the funding of water charges.
The European Commission has stated recently that it believes Ireland no longer has a derogation under the directive to abolish water charges.
Following the meeting, Mr Coveney said he had pressed upon Commissioner Vella and his officials the "the politics of water in Ireland," and the decision to suspend water charges for nine months.
However, he added: "The Commission did outline, in very clear terms, what their position is, in relation to whether or not Ireland can apply for a derogation to charging for domestic water supplies under the Water Framework Directive and it's very consistent with what they've been saying to MEPs when they've asked questions on this issue," said Mr Coveney.
He said it was a "good and frank discussion".
He said that Brussels would follow the Expert Commission process "with real interest and look at the outcomes when they come out".
He added: "The Expert Commission is about reassuring the public that this isn't a political decision. This is about Ireland fulfilling it's obligations under the Water Framework Directive and, what I would like is the independence of the [Expert] Commission to come with solutions and the reasons why they need to make them."
However, Mr Coveney acknowledged that the "[European] Commission's view is that water charges in some form are required for Ireland to fulfill its obligations under the Water Framework Directive."
He said he hoped that the Expert Commission process would come to its conclusions "without the heated political input and debate that we've seen around water debates for the past two years".
