The minister who set up Irish Water says he is worried there are "forces" who want it privatised.

Fergus O'Dowd says there is a real risk that Irish Water could fall into private hands because of the government's handling.

The former minister - who was demoted in July - said the agenda to privatise the company may not be coming from politicians.

Speaking in the Dáil in the early hours of the morning, Deputy O'Dowd said there was good reason to be nervous:

This morning, Environment Minister Alan Kelly told reporters he does not know what Deputy O'Dowd is talking about:

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people are expected to join a major demonstration against water charges in Dublin today.

The demonstration outside Leinster House will demand that the government abandons its plans for water charges.

The main part of the protest, organised by the Right2Water campaign, runs from 1pm to 4pm this afternoon - but a series of smaller stages are being set up afterwards, to accommodate people who may want to attend after work

You can find updates throughout the day at newstalk.com/news.

Originally posted at 10.37am