Storm Emma water crisis shows folly of scrapping charges

The unrelenting efforts of the emergency services, hospital staff and public volunteers during the heavy snows brought by Storm Emma have been rightly praised.

But despite the best efforts of Irish Water and the council staff working for them, there was no way of preventing widespread disruption to water services.

Pipes that have an average age of 80 years burst due to freezing temperatures, adding to the already astonishingly high water leakage rate ...