Legislation to suspend water charges for nine months has passed all stages in the Dáil.

It will now need to be passed by the Seanad.

Once that happens, an expert group will examine how the state will pay for water services in the future. 

Minister Simon Coveney says he explained the position to the European Commission in a meeting in recent days.

And told the Dáíl that water charges have been suspended, not scrapped: