Sir, – I was surprised to read (“Nearly 80 per cent to pay contentious water charges, poll shows”, September 28th) that “information released by Irish Water earlier this month which showed that at the end of the second billing cycle at least 775,000 homes had paid their bills, giving a compliance rate of exactly 51 per cent”.

The information released by Irish Water does not suggest a compliance rate of 51 per cent. That is what was originally and wrongly suggested in your newspaper. However, a subsequent Irish Water statement made it clear that was not the case.

What Irish Water is claiming is that 100,000 new customers paid a bill for the first time during the second billing cycle. The figure of 775,000 is simply derived by journalists adding that 100,000 to the 675,000 who paid the first bill during the first billing cycle.

However, what Irish Water failed to release was the key figure, which is how many people paid the first bill, but have passed their pay-by-date for the second bill and have not paid it. That figure could well be higher than 100,000 – thereby resulting in a reduction of payment levels instead of an increase.

That is the figure journalists should be demanding. – Yours, etc,

PAUL MURPHY, TD

Anti-Austerity Alliance,

Tallaght,

Dublin 24.