Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and I am happy to have a discussion on how we can reassure people who may be sceptical or may have concerns about future public ownership of Irish Water's infrastructure. Perhaps the Oireachtas committee will make recommendations on this but we will have to wait and see. I have an open mind on it.

I know a referendum seems like a solution, but referendums sometimes have knock-on consequences. There is a great deal of water infrastructure in the country, particularly around group water schemes, which is privately owned at present. There is nobody campaigning to bring them into public ownership. There are considerations that we need to go through. I would be open to constructive suggestions as to how we can give further reassurance.

There is already a great deal of reassurance. The former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly provided reassurance and incorporated it in legislation, requiring a future Minister to have a national plebiscite before he or she would change the ownership structure or the infrastructure of Irish Water. One could not be more emphatic than that. There may be some who will say that a future Government can chance legislation if it has a majority. Let us see how we can address that issue. I have no attachment to any possibility of privatisation or the sale of Irish Water infrastructure. That is not the agenda of the Government. It is not my agenda. We want this to be a single utility in public ownership and we want to build public trust and faith in it as a body that can deliver safe water supplies at a competitive cost.

I have been consistent on this matter. Let us wait and see how it be done. Some people have suggested a referendum but there are complex issues around wording such a referendum, how it might be structured and how it might be done. There may be other ways in which we can provide that reassurance.