Irish Water's parent company says it wants to clarify how employees at the new utility will be paid.

Ervia claims 'absolutely no pay increases are guaranteed to anyone'.

It also says that, 'there is a salary freeze in place until 2016 and no member of staff can be considered for a pay increase until after that'.

This evening's statement is in response to media reports earlier today which claimed that Irish Water workers could get an annual salary increase if they could prove that similar firms had received a pay rise.

However Ervia says that 'the pay model does not allow for increases simply because the market has increased.