Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the contributors so far and I commend Deputy Collins on her Bill. We have to acknowledge that there is concern in the public regarding the public ownership of water. That has been reflected through the Deputy's Bill, but also through the expert commission and indeed our own work on the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services.

Like Deputy Ó Broin, I have some concerns regarding assets that are already in public ownership. For example, speaking in layman's language, I am aware in County Waterford that Waterford County Council has a number of old wastewater treatment plants that are no longer in use. They are being decommissioned because new treatment plants have been installed. They are obviously on pieces of land and they are now part of the overall water infrastructure. How would Irish Water or the State dispose of those when they are no longer of use? Will this amendment to the Constitution tie their hands so that they could not dispose of them? I know Mr. Ó Tuathail has tried to address that issue through his Bord na Móna response but, from what I heard, that was more or less about a product of the land, the turf or the briquettes, rather than about the land or infrastructure itself. These are the technicalities that cause the complexity. I am only giving one example and I would like to hear Mr. Ó Tuathail's view on that.