Households who don't pay the water charge could face bills and penalties of over a thousand euro within two years.

The government's confirmed that the penalties for not paying the charges will continue to mount over time.

It means that the longer the charges aren't paid, the higher their penalties will be.

Alan Kelly told the Dail that penalties will be added to unpaid water bills every year.

However, a briefing document prepared for TDs confirms that those penalties will continue to accumulate over time.

For every year that a household doesn't pay the bill, it will run up more and more penalties - while at the same time incurring new fines for the bills that come in afterwards.

It means that the average family will see their bills increase to €1,140 if they don't pay for three years.

The way the penalties build up is proving to be a serious problem for landlords who are refusing to co-operate with the new scheme.

Property owners' groups say the charges will mount up so quickly, that in some cases, taking the money from a deposit still won't cover the bill.