Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said Joan Burton was speaking in a personal capacity yesterday when she said a family of four would pay water charges of less than €200.
Speaking during Leaders' Questions, Mr Kenny said he shared the Tánaiste's view that the water charges must be clear and affordable.
He said the Government had made it perfectly clear that a number of changes will be made and a decision will be made within the next two weeks.
Mr Kenny said the decision needs to have a regime of charges that are affordable.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said Ms Burton was not speaking in a personal capacity and she was the deputy head of Government.
Mr Martin had asked Mr Kenny if the figure of €200 was correct.
He said there had been about nine different climb downs on the issue, while the meters have been ticking for the last five weeks.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams told the Dáil that "the only way forward is to scrap water charges".
He said the Taoiseach said the Government has not made any decision on what it will charge people.
Independent TD Mick Wallace said there are huge problems with Irish Water in his own constituency of Wexford.
Mr Wallace said the Government should disband and call an election because of the water charges issue.
Ms Burton said today that she believes that she and the Taoiseach are on the same page in relation to level of water charges for families.
Elsewhere, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said the water charge protests had been a "wake up call" for the Government and it has listened to what people are saying.
The Government is working on measures to address public concern that will tackle affordability issues, privacy matters and quality of service, he said.
Speaking in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said the protests "did put it up to us to put together a package of measures that will assuage people".
"We are listening to what people are saying," he said.
"That doesn't mean that water charges are going to be abolished.
"I think deep down that most of us think they're the right thing to do."
Later speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Varadkar said he would be in favour of setting a maximum fee for water charges for a number of years.
Labour senators vote against Government
Meanwhile, the Seanad has voted in favour of a Fianna Fáil "motion re a referendum on Irish Water" by 37 votes to 16.
Labour senators voted against the Government en bloc on the motion to allow for a referendum on the ownership of Irish Water.
Labour senator John Whelan told RTÉ the vote was aspirational and not binding.
However, he said it reflected a view across the Labour Party of the importance of water remaining in public ownership.
He said one people who are protesting against water charges are saying they do not want to pay for something that will contribute to "fat cat" bonuses and they do not want to pay charges if the company will be privatised at a later stage.
Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly is addressing the Seanad about Irish Water this afternoon.
Mr Kelly acknowledged that people are worried about paying bills in the region of €500 to €700.
However, he told senators that no one will be paying charges of that scale and the charges will be modest.
Minister Kelly said the scale of establishing the utility company was completely underestimated.
He said that the timelines had led to uncertainty, confusion and huge public frustration.
It was time for the Government to listen and ensure that it has learned from mistakes, he said.
He said he believed the issue of water ownership had been "closed off" but said that the Government would consider extra assurances if needed.
Issues regarding pay structure, the board and bonuses would all be addressed when the new board sits, he added.
Adams will not pay water charges
Mr Adams earlier said he will not be paying water charges on his holiday home in Co Donegal, saying the reason for his u-turn is because of the nationwide protests at the weekend.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Adams said he was at one of the anti-water charges walks on Saturday and it changed his position, and he now stands in solidarity with the people.
He said while Sinn Féin is not advocating that people should not pay their water charges, his focus and his party's focus is on those who cannot afford to pay.
Mr Adams called on the Taoiseach to listen to what the people are saying, and added that everyone has a responsibility.
He said: "150,000 people who marched on Saturday are representative of tens or scores of others who are stuck at home who don't go out and march, who are not able to go out and march, and who are actually intimidated and threatened and frightened by the fact they are going to get these bills.
"They don't know, particularly elderly people living on their own, should they flush the toilet, take a bath and so on. That is why I put it to the Taoiseach yesterday that he should listen to what the people say."
He said the Government can scrap water charges by absorbing €300 million of domestic water charges.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan earlier told the Dáil that "all options are being considered" when asked if the Revenue Commissioners may be requested to collect money for Irish Water.
During Ministers' Questions this morning, Fianna Fáil finance spokesperson Michael McGrath asked the minister to "clarify if the Revenue Commissioners will be involved in collecting money for Irish Water".
He pointed out that this had not been the practice in the past for Revenue to collect money for commercial semi-State companies.
Sinn Fein's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said it was clear the Government was frantically trying to appease a group of citizens, but it was not going to work.
He said tens of thousands of people will descend on Dublin on 10 December to show the Government that water charges "will not wash with them".
Final figure not yet agreed - Howlin
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said this morning that the controversy had damaged the Government but a final figure for water charges had not been agreed yet.
He said he presumed Ms Burton was referring to a net figure when she spoke about the €200 water charge.
Fine Gael TD for Dublin South East Eoghan Murphy said he believes a lot of the problems around the establishment of Irish Water stem from the fact that the proper respect was not given to the Dáil in the three-hour debate held on the issue last year.
Mr Murphy said there was an opportunity now, looking at Irish Water, and the dissatisfaction people have with politics, to return to some of the ideas on political reform.
Labour TD Dominic Hannigan has said that "all bets are off the table" in relation to how people will be charged for water.
Speaking on LMFM radio this morning, the Meath East TD said the Government "can only govern with the support of the people" and "politicians have to listen to what people are saying".
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the National Federation of Group Water Schemes has said final arrangements for people on group water schemes still had to be agreed with Irish Water and the Department of the Environment.
Brian McDonald said his organisation had made submissions on schemes that involved taking water through a bulk meter.
He said in this case the scheme owned the pipework and had the legal responsibility and cost of distributing that water to its members.
Mr McDonald said this additional cost needs to be acknowledged.
He said the fact that these people had the legal responsibility for the water delivery in their systems had to be acknowledged in the cost base to those schemes.
Mr McDonald said around 100,000 households are potentially affected.
He said for the 80,000 households that are on privately sourced group water schemes, their position does not change with the new charges, and this is confirmed in legislation.
Mr McDonald said rural group water schemes in Ireland are not-for-profit, produce annual accounts for members, and members can vote to change the board of directors.
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