Joan Burton has revealed that families with adult children will have their water charges slashed under a deal to be announced in the coming weeks.
Speaking in the Dail, the Tánaiste declared that households with four adults would face annual charges "under €200" - compared to €484 under the system that was announced just before the charges began.
The comments came in response to a question from socialist TD Joe Higgins, who said families with two adult children were being savagely hit by the new charges.
"I am perfectly happy to say that it is my view, that the charge in relation to the type of family or type of household you've indicated, will be below €200," the Tánaiste said.
The comments came only minutes after her deputy leader, Alan Kelly, refused to divulge any of the details of the new scheme being proposed.
Minister Kelly said it was "critically important" to give certainty to people, who said: "I'm not going to speculate on what the charges are."
Asked whether making changes "modest" for some people would result in higher charges for others, he added: "All of those issues will be addressed next week.
"We feel we can put together a package that will address the concerns of the people."
In the Dáil this afternoon the Taoiseach rowed back on his commitment to deliver details of the revised system next week - saying instead that the details would be out 'within the next fortnight'.
It's believed that the details will first have to be approved by the cabinet's Economic Management Committee, the powerful sub-committee which deals with major financial issues.
Warning over child benefit
The developments came after Fine Gael told its TDs that it would have to reverse the increase in child benefit if water charges were to be scrapped entirely.
It said increases in welfare spending, and income tax cuts announced in the Budget, would need to be reversed to make up for the lost revenue.
The message came in a note to TDs and Senators, circulated by party headquarters last night and seen by Today FM News.
The note - which includes speaking notes for TDs for dealing with the media - tried to reassure members that a "package of proposals" is on the way to deal with public anger about water charges. However it did not say what those proposals would be.
It also stood by Enda Kenny's claim that income taxes would have to be raised by 4% if water charges were delayed.
It told members that without water charges, the EU would treat Irish Water as just another part of the government - and more austerity would be needed to meet our European budget targets.
It argued that the only way to avoid that 4 per cent hike would be to reverse the measures in the Budget - including the €5 increase in child benefit, and the cuts to income taxes and the universal social charge.
However the note could also be interpreted as a threat to TDs - warning them that there will be other consequences to any plan at abandoning the water charges regime altogether.
