Enda Kenny receiving a copy of the new U2 album Songs of Innocence from Bono at the IDA announcement of the creation of 400 new jobs for Cork, Dublin and Galway last night. Photo: Maxwells

Anti water meter protesters try to block Taoiseach Enda Kenny leaving Santry after he officially launched the Sports Surgery Clinic Research Foundation

Anti water meter protesters try to block Taoiseach Enda Kenny leaving Santry after he officially launched the Sports Surgery Clinic Research Foundation this evening

Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s car tries to get past protesters after he launched the Sports Surgery Clinic Research Foundation in Santry, Dublin, yesterday. Photo: Mark Condren

Every household in the country is set to get a €100 cash social welfare payment to offset the cost of water charges.

The planned payment will be made over the course of next year by the Department of Social Protection – in a similar fashion to child benefit – to everyone who registers with Irish Water.

The Coalition is also looking at strengthening the penalties against those who don’t pay their water bill, to include court orders allowing:

* A charge against the house;

* Enforced payment from earnings;

* Credit rating damage.

Ministers will meet again today to discuss the Government’s water charges plan.

Tanaiste Joan Burton was warned by colleagues at a Labour parliamentary party meeting that they will “evaporate” at the next election over the Government’s handling of the debacle.

And at a meeting of his TDs and senators, Taoiseach Enda Kenny heard dozens of Fine Gael TDs express their exasperation at the ongoing failures.

Initially, the Government was planning to give a €100 benefit to social welfare recipients and tax relief worth up to €100 a year to workers.

To ensure everyone benefits to the same extent, the option of giving all 1.5 million households in the country the same €100 social welfare benefit is now firmly on the table. The payment would be made in four tranches of €25 to coincide with billing.

“It’s either through Revenue or Social Protection.

"But there's a single-delivery mechanism purely through social welfare," a senior Government source said.

To get the benefit in the first year, householders would just have to register with Irish Water.

The Coalition plans to provide incentives for those who pay their water charges and penalise those who won't.

Water charges will be capped for the next two years. But householders with a meter would still be able to pay the metered rate if it was lower.

Ms Burton is sticking to her claim the bill for a family of four adults will be €200, despite Mr Kenny saying she was speaking in a "personal capacity".

But Labour sources said Ms Burton deliberately put the figure out there to ensure it will be the threshold, just as Fine Gael had circulated figures earlier in the year.

"Remember Kenny went out and said €240 average. Her going in and suggesting €200 or less is a bit of payback. She is very good at playing her cards close to her chest on issues. She was very political here," a senior party source said.

Yesterday, the High Court granted a 20-metre exclusion zone around water meter installation works.

A High Court judge was jeered at by protesters, who were surrounded in court by gardai. Gardai are now expected to police the exclusion zones.

Also yesterday, Irish Water chief executive John Tierney met 40 TDs to answer their queries and is understood to have met Environment Minister Alan Kelly.

During a tense Labour Parliamentary Party meeting, party TDs and senators openly predicted the party's demise at the next general election.

Several sources confirmed it was the most highly charged Labour meeting in quite some time.

"Joan looked worried. She appeared taken aback by the level of concern about the upcoming election," one source said.

Dublin South-West TD Eamonn Maloney said many of those who protested against the water charges in Tallaght were from middle-class areas.

Kerry North TD Arthur Spring warned the party would "evaporate" at the next election.

Former minister Pat Rabbitte urged colleagues to row in behind the Environment Minister in his bid to resolve the water charges issue.

At the Fine Gael meeting, several speakers told Mr Kenny the Government had delivered a politically clever budget, but got no benefits and now was not even reaping credit for Ireland being the EU's fastest-growing economy.

Mr Kenny said a new comprehensive scheme of Irish Water charges and supports would be announced within the coming two weeks. He remained calm throughout while listening to a litany of complaints and assured the meeting the issue would be resolved.

"We appear so incompetent on issues like Irish Water that there is a danger that the troika will get all the credit for fixing the economy and we will just get blamed for messing up," one FG backbencher told the Irish Independent.

"The mood was not one of anger - because we have done that. There was a huge feeling of exasperation that we cannot fix things more quickly," one TD said.

Irish Independent