Taoiseach Enda Kenny says people can save on water charges by turning off the tap when they brush their teeth.

Mr Kenny said people underestimated the ways in which they would be able to conserve water.

“People are in control here because you can turn off the tap. From simple things like washing teeth to all of the other things that happen, it is possible to save and conserve huge amounts of water.”

Speaking this afternoon, the Taoiseach said definitive water charges would be issued by the Regulator next week.

“I think people underestimate the way that people will be able to save water in so many ways. The Regulator will issue very clear directions next week.”

Mr Kenny said people’s “practical, normal” questions about the new regime would be answered then.

He said the State was currently spending €1.2 billion on a water system that was losing 40 per cent of volume through leaks. Irish Water had been set up to borrow money to invest in infrastructure to improve the situation.

“We have a God-given geographical location where we have plenty of water. We don’t want to have a situation where that’s being wasted.”

Earlier, the Dáil heard Irish Water will ask people to “self report” on medical conditions, which will allow them reduce their water charges bill.

Tánaiste Joan Burton said the form that had been sent out to people by Irish Water asked people to give information. “They’re asking people to self report.”

She also said the regulator would make a ruling shortly about contaminated water, which she said “will mean that people on boil water notices will not have to pay for the delivery of water to their homes”.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin called on Ms Burton to clarify the situation regarding medical conditions for people who required large volumes of water. The form does not ask individuals to list specific illnesses or conditions.

“You seem not to want to trust people,” she replied.

Mr Martin also said there was “no linkage to ability to pay” for people on low incomes.

However, Ms Burton accused him of changing his party’s position on water charges in a way that was “cynical in the extreme”. She said that in government, his party had agreed to international contracts of a flat water charge of €400.

Mr Martin had said there was no linkage in the system of charges to the ability to pay with children only qualifying for a shower and one toilet flush daily. He asked Ms Burton: “Will you review the structures you’ve introduced and put in place an ability to pay framework which would be fair and help people on low pay?”

He also called on her to clarify the position on medical conditions following a report in the Irish Independent that homeowners would simply tick a box on the Irish Water form that would allow them to limit the charges they paid.

She said they were asking people to self report and that the Government had agreed a household water support payment package worth €42 million.

Those on social welfare, or any one of the household benefits package, would receive €100 a year, paid quarterly. She said 410,000 families would receive the payment.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the annual Money And Budgeting Service (Mabs) showed that the average disposable income of people using their services was €8.75 a week. That was all they had left after they paid rent, mortgages, bills for basic necessities for their families.

“How do you expect or recommend to these families that they pay €500 a year or more for their water?” she asked the Tánaiste. “What household essentials do you advise them to cut back on?

“It confirms yet again how wrong-headed and unfair the approach of your government has been in the imposition of a tax on the family home and the imposition of a tax on water,” said Ms McDonald.

Ms Burton said the Mabs report showed things were improving but not quickly enough. She said the single best thing they could do for people needing the services of Mabs was to help them get back to work.

Ms McDonald told her: “You believed once that it was wrong to charge families for their water. You’ve come a long way since then.”

She said the Tánaiste had not answered how people could pay their water charges bill when they had to use Labs services and said it was perverse that she would welcome a report that reflected that level of economic difficulty and poverty people were living in.

Ms Burton said: “I welcome all of the reports from Mabs because it is very important information..... in order to formulate policy to help people who had debt difficulties.”