The spectacle of Cabinet Ministers suddenly distancing themselves from Irish Water after the former minister with responsibility for the semi-State utility criticised the unpopular organisation has been striking.

Fergus O’Dowd, who was sent to the back benches in the reshuffle, uttered negative remarks that appeared to open the floodgates this morning, with senior members of Government taking turns to knock the company.

The tough-talking Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan targeted Irish Water's customer relations. The company needed to be "more customer friendly" and improve the extent to which it engaged with the public, he said.

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald too said Irish Water "really do have to work on customer relations".

(As someone who had reason to phone the company recently, perhaps I should say I found their customer relations fine. Mr O'Dowd has stressed he was not criticising the company's impressive head of communications Elizabeth Arnett, who he described as "top class".)

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said there was "a job of work to be done" by Irish Water to "reconnect with ordinary people", when he spoke to reporters on his way into the Cabinet meeting.

He mentioned other State companies that, he said, Irish people were proud of, such as ESB and Bord na Móna. Irish Water was not yet in that league, he implied.

“There is a rebuilding of trust that it is going to be efficient, that it is going to be value for money and that it is a State company that we’ll all be proud of.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s response to reporters’ questions this morning was blander. Admitting he had not seen Mr O’Dowd’s statement in full, Mr Kenny played down the former minister of State for the environment’s outburst.

Mr O’Dowd had merely made the point that there was a need for constant engagement with the community, “so that everybody understands the need for setting up Irish Water and the need for making a contribution to a commodity that’s very precious”, Mr Kenny claimed.

In the Dáil this afternoon, Mr Kenny stated clearly he did not share Mr O’Dowd’s views. He also enraged the opposition by saying Irish Water had endured “teething problems”.

With byelections in the key constituencies of Dublin South West and Roscommon South Leitrim just days away, anti-water charge campaigners will undoubtedly be in their element.