Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I strongly hold the sentiment that water services should not be privatised. We had a lengthy discussion on this issue on Committee Stage. Amendment No. 17 prevents the asset from being transferred because the essence of privatisation is the question of who owns the asset.

The new subsection (12) inserted by the amendment needs elaboration because I do not have any principled disagreement with the cogent and sincere points which Deputies have raised. The subsection prohibits a water services authority from entering into an agreement for the purpose of divesting itself of the water services asset other than to another water services authority or a group scheme. We want to ensure that we do not prohibit exchanges between group schemes. Basically, paragraph (a)(ii) prevents the transfer of water services assets outside the local authority. The design, build and operate process does not confer ownership of the asset.

I trust Deputies will accept that privatisation was never on this Government's agenda nor was it the intention of this Bill. I assure the House that I believe certain services, such as water, should lie within the public sector. The prohibition in the new subsection will not apply to arrangements reached between individual water service authorities or water service authorities and group water schemes, which have been defined elsewhere.

With regard to why I do not simply provide by law that water services cannot be privatised, such a measure could be interpreted as placing an obligation on a water service authority to provide water in all instances. More importantly, if we were to introduce an absolute prohibition along those bald lines, we could face a challenge. It is better and more effective, therefore, to focus on the ownership of the asset. Existing provisions in the Bill already provide an effective mechanism to prevent de facto privatisation, which may have been at the back of Deputy Gilmore's mind when we discussed the manner in which local authorities divested their functions in waste collection. The question was raised of whether a surreptitious divestment could take place but the Bill makes clear the intention that ownership will remain in the public sector.

Section 31(7) is important in this regard because it enables the Minister to direct a water service authority to provide services. One of the issues which arose in the Galway debate was that the Minister has limited powers under the law as it stands. The local services authority will now be bound to comply with a direction to provide services in any particular area. A water service strategic plan, which also provides for such an action, is required to be approved by the elected members of the local authority. This pertains to the point I made earlier about the importance of involving democratically elected members rather than making the matter an executive function. It is imperative it remains a reserved function because, if efforts were made to do something underhand or if there was uisce faoi thalamh, elected representatives could be made aware of it. As with the controls provided in planning law, if the representatives went mad and decided to act perversely, their plans would be subject to the scrutiny of the Minister. Not only is full democratic accountability provided for in the legislation; there is a control mechanism of reference to the Minister and if a local authority tried to go in this direction, given the Bill's provisions, it would encounter very significant difficulties. It is complex, but the reality is that the asset cannot be transferred and although local authority members will have the policy decision in the area, the Minister has the power of final scrutiny. The protection that we seek is provided in the Bill. I ask the Deputy not to press the amendment.

See this speech in context