The Communications Minister says people should be given a water allowance but charged for wasting water.
Denis Naughten says there has to be some way of encouraging conservation.
Earlier Simon Coveney admitted charges are unlikely to return in their past form.
Amid calls for them to be scrapped entirely, Minister Denis Naughten says people need to pay for wasting water.
Meanwhile, the Right 2 Water group say they expect tens of thousands of people at a protest against water charges on Saturday.
They launched their submission to the expert commission on water today.
The group claims it's 'scandalous' that the commission's terms of reference don't take social impacts of the charges into account.
Right 2 Water Coordinator Dave Gibney says the government is subverting democracy by not dealing with the issue.
