Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to Deputy O'Dowd's point. I believe we have a duty of care to the staff in Irish Water who are public sector workers. I believe Members of the Dáil berate the organisation too casually, but in doing so berate the staff. We saw during Storm Ophelia how the staff of Irish Water stepped up to the plate in a very big way.

In the Dáil when Deputies were responding to Storm Ophelia in one breath they criticised Irish Water and in the next complimented the ESB. Both organisations were working together to restore power and water to households up and down the country. The Water Services Bill is being debated in the Seanad and I hope it will be completed this week. As we now have an understanding of the role of Irish Water in the coming years, I hope that as the Oireachtas, we try to support that work and help Irish Water do its important work for citizens, whether they marched or did not march or paid or did not pay their water charges. Irish Water has a job of work to do and it needs our support.

Having worked with Irish Water for the past six months, having visited the premises and met the staff - I met the staff on site in Drogheda and in other parts of the country - the staff of Irish Water need our support. The brand "Irish Water" has been damaged since its inception and we have to help the staff of Irish Water to do their job effectively for the benefit of everyone.