The Energy Regulator is promising that households will not be asked to cover the bill for extravagant spending at Irish Water.
The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) says it will make a final decision in August about the level of charges households will face.
The decision will come only two months before people face their first charges under the system which kicks in in October.
Paul McGowan from the regulator says Irish authorities are looking at other European countries to figure out the appropriate levels of charges.
Meanwhile the head of Irish Water has rejected claims that the utility will spend €2 billion paying staff it does not need.
John Tierney says if Irish Water did not take all water staff from local authorities, thousands of workers would be left behind working for councils with no jobs to do.
