Housing Minister Simon Coveney has said that people who have not paid their water charges bill “will be pursued” once a nine-month suspension period for payment is finished.

Mr Coveney has also stated that those who have already paid their water utility bill “will not be made fools of” and that people will be pursued to pay their bill in a way that is “affordable,” he told RTE’s Claire Byrne Live.

“A fella down the road who didn’t pay will have to pay; he is going to be pursued once the suspension period is over. Money owed to any form of tax will be pursued and personally I don’t think water should be any different.

“I will not allow a situation where those people (who have paid) are made fools of. My preference of how to deal with that is that people are pursued but pursued in a way that is affordable,” he added..

Mr Coveney also said that there have been over 85,000 water metres installed nationwide.

Online Editors