Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has reacted strongly to Minister for Environment Alan Kelly's description of his recent remarks on water legislation as "silly".

Mr Varadkar warned Senators earlier this week that if they rejected the new legislation, the public would face higher bills in January.

Mr Kelly without naming Mr Varadkar, last night criticised him for “silly” remarks and for “lecturing” people on the consequences of the legislation not being passed. This prompted a robust response from Mr Varadkar.

“I simply stated the facts on foot of a very specific question. I wasn’t lecturing anyone. And I think the vast majority of senators are big enough and independent enough to appreciate that,” Mr Varadkar said.

On Monday, Mr Varadkar said the concessions and reduced charges announced by Government recently needed to be agreed by both Houses of the Oireachtas.

“As I understand it, if the Seanad does reject the Water Services Bill, the existing arrangements apply. So what they would in effect be doing is allowing the status quo to stand, which would mean higher bills landing in January rather than the reduced bills in April,” he said.

“So I think the Seanad need to think about whether they want to be responsible for that or not.”

Referring to the remarks last night, Mr Kelly said: “Some comments made previously earlier on in the week by a colleague of mine were unnecessary and probably silly, to be frank - you know, lecturing people as regards the consequences of what happens if they don’t pass this legislation.”