The Health Minister believes there's a broad acceptance from "most of the public", that it makes sense to pay for water.

Leo Varadkar says over a million homes have now registered to make payments to the new utility.

His comments come as reports today suggest that Government may be planning a two tier system for the charges.

After the 100 euro support payment is taken into account, households are likely to be paying between 80 to 210 euro a year.

Minister Varadkar refused to be drawn on exact figures, but says changes to the payment system will be announced in the coming weeks.