A former junior minister involved in setting up Irish Water is hitting out at the company today.

A week after charges kicked in, Fergus O'Dowd says the utility has shown how good it is at 'shooting itself in the foot from the very outset'.

He is accusing Irish Water of coming across as uncaring and arrogant, and of failing to sell the message of why water charges are necessary.

The Fine Gael TD for Louth is insisting he's been making this point for years - and it's just that people are listening to him now:

The CER published the cost of water at the end of last month, with charges beginning from the 1st October.

Householders will pay €2.44 per thousand litres of water, doubling to €4.88 to cover waste water as well.

Charging for all homes will be capped for nine months  which is longer than expected, while those on boil water notices for 24 hours will not be charged for water supply.