The Government is also said to be considering linking payment of Irish Water bills to the conservation grant.
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Fine Gael TDs have reacted angrily after a junior minister pointed the blame at Phil Hogan for the Irish Water fiasco.
However, it was claimed this was prior to Eurostat ruling Irish Water should stay on the State balance sheet.
Data released under Freedom of Information has revealed that Department of the Environment has suggested the Local Government Management Agency could establish a new database of Irish Water customers and non-customers to be used by the Department of Social Protection to administer the grant from next year.
Environment Minister Alan Kelly is expected to present the proposals to Cabinet when ministers return after the summer break.
And the new measures are unlikely to come into force before 2016 as the 2015 will be paid out from next month.
The Government is also looking at significantly extending the period for which the existing water charges caps will apply, according to the Irish Times.
It would mean that the grant available to everyone who registered for the utility would only be provided to those who pay their bills.
The cost of water charges drops to €160 for a family and €60 for an individual when the grant is included. “For a lad that was AK47 earlier in the year”.
Over the past 24 hours Irish Water has caused yet more havoc for the Coalition after reports that the “water conservation” grant – seen by some as little more than a bribe – would only be given to people paying their bills.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis said the Coalition was “at sixes and sevens” over the conservation grant. Most deputies felt the remarks were unhelpful and damaging at a time the Coalition is trying to switch public attention away from Irish Water.
The government is coming under criticism for the latest apparent climbdown on Irish Water, on social media this morning.
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“There must be a single public utility for the supply of clean, fresh, drinking water for every home in the country, free of domestic water charges”.
