The water committee is meeting this evening in an attempt to agree a final report.
Fresh legal advice suggested changes to the report - but Fianna Fáil's adamant that average usage must be based per person and not per household.
There were rowdy scenes in the Dáil with Sinn Féin and Fine Gael accusing each other of sabotage.
The senior counsel who told the water committee last week that their draft final report was ok, today changed his mind.
David Nolan insisted a rewording was needed around excessive use and penalties, and told the committee they needed to put back in a requirement for meters to be installed in all new builds.
These changes he said would be necessary to convince the European Commission about adherence to the framework directive.
Talks this afternoon between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have centred on wording around average usage - Fine Gael want it per household, Fianna Fáil says it must be per person or a third of all homes will get bills for water usage.
In the Dáíl chamber, Sinn Féin's deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the government of bully-boy tactics:
Taoiseach Enda Kenny replied that Sinn féin were doing the flip-flopping on water:
Attempts are now being made to come up with an agreed position between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
