The Cabinet has approved the legislation to suspend water charges.

The legislation is expected to go before the Dáil next week and onwards then to the Seanad.

The charges will be suspended for nine months while a commission examines them, and they are referred to an Oireachtas Committee.

However the move could mean an end to charges as it is unlikely that they could be re-introduced as a majority of the Dáil oppose them.

Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen welcomed it saying: “I was getting worried it wasn’t going to be brought forward, it’d be a big issue then alright, so it’s imperative it came at this stage.

“It is to be suspended on the first of July for a period of nine months as long as the committee is in a position to report to the Dáil at that stage.

“That is notwithstanding that there would be an extension to that timeframe.”