Joan Burton has refused to say how much it will cost her Department to administer a new grant to help households with water charges.
But the Tánaiste insists that she'll be able to pay the 100-euro grant to every household that's entitled to it.
She's been under pressure in the Dáil this afternoon after it emerged that her Department has sought extra resources to make sure the grant can be paid.
It follows the release of documents which show the Tánaiste's top civil servant writing to her counterpart at the Department of Public Expenditure.
Page two of the #IrishWater FOI pic.twitter.com/TiCuburul3
— Fianna Fáil (@fiannafailparty) January 29, 2015
The confusion about the costs of administering the grant come on top of disputes before Christmas, where serious concerns were raised about whether the €130 million allocated by government would cover the payment to every home.
Opposition TDs produced figures showing the grant could actually cost €160 million or more, because the government's figure of 1.3 million eligible homes may not include everyone who is entitled to the grant.
Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this report for Today FM's National Lunchtime News:
