Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Government will establish a watchdog to monitor pricing in the waste industry.
His comments came ahead of a Dáil debate on a Fianna Fáil motion this evening calling for an independent regulator to be established.
Cabinet earlier approved the wording of a counter-motion, which Fianna Fáil have said they will not block.
Sinn Féin and Solidarity-People Before Profit are opposed to the new regime, Labour wants the Environment Protection Agency to become the regulator, and the Social Democrats want more transparency from the waste companies.
Under the new regime to be introduced in September, flat charges will be replaced by a system which includes pay by weight. Half of the country already uses this system.
However, the Opposition is lining up with its concerns about the new regime.
During tonight's Dáil debate, Minister for Communications and Climate Action Denis Naughten explained the make-up of the watchdog.
He said it will provide monthly reports on pricing developments and would ask the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to report on the operation of the household waste collection market.
The unit will comprise of representatives from the CCPC, Mr Naughten's department, a consumer representative from an organisation such as St Vincent de Paul and an external economic expert with market knowledge, the minister said.
Fianna Fáil Environment Spokesperson Timmy Dooley said his party believes it necessary to put in place a regulator to protect the consumer.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Mr Dooley said the structure by which the price is changing is leading to a lack of transparency.
A watchdog can report, but it does not have the force of law or "the teeth", he said.
He added: "A regulator will take a number of months to establish, so I have no issue with this watchdog carrying out some work in the intervening period, but the Fianna Fáil party believe the only way to give confidence and security to the consumer that there won't be unnecessary price rises is to put a regulatory regime in place and appoint a regulator."
Mr Varadkar earlier said it will be at least 15 months before a new bin charging system is put in place, and said that for anyone who has a contract, it still stands.
He also said there are no new charges, saying "bin charges in Ireland are not new".
Speaking in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said: "People have been paying for their bins to be collected for more than ten years now.
"What there is, is a change to a new system of how bin charges are calculated, moving away from a flat charge that people pay once a year to pay by weight or pay by lift and in fact half the country already is on that system.
"So most people or at least half the people in the country are very used to it."
Mr Varadkar said change is happening for "a very sound environmental reason", because landfill space in Ireland is running out and "we don't want to build any new landfills".
"What we need to do is to reduce the amount of waste that we produce and the amount of waste that we throw away," said Mr Varadkar.
"And markets do work and by incentivising people to recycle, to compost, to reuse, and to throw less away, we then reduce the demand on landfill and that's what’s happening."
Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said people were frightened that an increase in waste collection charges will make it impossible to make ends meet and said the new charging regime was "grossly unfair".
Citizens, she said, are being left at the mercy of private operators, describing the annual grant of €75 as measly, and said "it would make Ebenezer Scrooge blush".
"Your Government has learned absolutely nothing from the water charges debacle. You seem to think that people will take this lying down. Well you got it wrong on water charges, and you'll get it wrong on this," Ms McDonald said.
Labour TD Sean Sherlock has said his party wants the Environment Protection Agency to become an independent regulator for the waste industry. He said the regulator needs to examine the market further.
This afternoon, Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said her party favours regulation but wants all the available information.
She said the Social Democrats are putting down an amendment to the Fianna Fáil motion, calling on all bin companies to publish their financial accounts in Ireland in order to obtain waste licences.
The Social Democrats also want a national waiver system put in place.
Independents4Change TD Clare Daly has said householders are not waste producers, but waste receivers and the debate should be focused on those who produce packaging.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, she said there is very little detail on the current proposals and the system the way it is currently organised is "completely wrong".
Ms Daly said there is no evidence to suggest that consumer behaviour is cavalier and that forcing consumers to pay extra is not going to reduce what they send to landfill, but rather penalise them.
The Department of the Environment said in a statement that householders will see changes when their flat rate contracts expire over the 12 month period between autumn this year and next.
It stated that changes will only take effect after the National Waste Collection Permit Office reviews and adjusts permits of the various waste collectors who will then give notice to renewing customers that are affected.
"It is at this point, most likely in September, that the mandatory flat-rate phase-out on expiring contracts or new contracts would take effect.
"Thereafter, as people's contracts expire over the subsequent 12 months, a flat rate service will no longer be offered. That is the basis for the 'autumn 2017 - autumn 2018' phase-out timeline".
