Fianna Fáil says the Government will go down in history for introducing a tax that will cost them money.

It has been confirmed that less than half of Irish households have paid their first water bills, at 46%.

Irish Water says that 675,000 households are paying their water charges, which translates to about 2 million people that have paid the charge.

The company collected €30.5m of the almost €67m it had issued in bills in the first three months of the year.

Micheál Martin says the Government has now landed itself in a "moment of high farce":

"It's a solid start and it's one from which we now move forward into bill cycle two...It is in line with what we expected it to be", Irish Water spokesperson Elizabeth Arnett told Newstalk Breakfast.

While the Environment Minister Alan Kelly has said "one way or the other, everyone will end up having to pay" their Irish Water bill.

He also said that he is "hugely satisfied" with the figures.

Brendan Ogle is spokesperson for the Right2Water campaign.

He told the Pat Kenny Show here on Newstalk our tax structure needs to be looked at.