Conor Pope anticipated the charges for domestic water in some European countries to rise significantly since 2014. If the set prices of half a cent for a liter of water were enforced, then Ireland would have the highest water prices than the majority of the other EU member countries. In fact, Pope forecasted a possible rise in the cost of domestic water to over 20% of the normal rates that the people were paying. An annual flat-rate of the homesteads without a meter and housing at least two adults and two children could be €278 (Pope, 2014).
In fact, the cost was estimated to be €38 higher than the prevailing rates in the country before the announcement. Again, the draft plan to be approved stated that €176 would be the annual flat rate for any household with one adult and every additional grown-up could pay an extra cost of €102. On the other hand, the homes with meters were to pay €4.88 for a thousand liters of water used. However, whenever the water supplied could be deemed unfit for human consumption, it was recommended that the affected families could be compensated.
While some commentators argued that the price rise could be good for the country, others were concerned about the supposed high costs of water. The citizens have blamed the effects of such policy frameworks on increasing the cost of living as introduced by respective governments. The imposition of the proposed amendment has been largely blamed for triggering Ireland to become among the most expensive countries to live in. Therefore, the article by Pope could be said to be effective in implementing the destructive policy to oppress the citizens by raising the cost of domestic water.