One Senator says tenants who want to buy their house under a tenant-purchase scheme will be getting a "significant discount".

It comes as it was revealed that tenants who do not pay their water charges will not be able to buy their house under the scheme, which comes into place in the new year.

It will allow council tenants to purchase their home at a discount of up to 60% on the market price - doubling the discount available under the previous scheme.

This discount is on a sliding scale, dependent on earnings in the household.

But according to the Irish Times, anyone who has not paid all of their water charges in full will not be able avail of it.

Tenants of council houses have been able to buy their homes from individual local authorities since the 1930s.

In recent figures, Irish Water said 55% of households made a payment after the second cycle of bills.

The utility said there was a 24% increase in revenue between the two billing periods - and that, in total, 830,000 households had paid part or all of their bills.

Chair of housing charity Threshold, Sentor Aideen Hayden, told Newstalk Lunchtime those who are using the scheme are getting a good deal.