Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not a permanent member of the committee so I appreciate the opportunity to contribute. I want to make it clear where I stand on this. I believe, 100%, that Irish Water should be in public ownership but I come from an ideological viewpoint on this proposal, and it is nothing to do with the fact the legislation is proposed by Deputy Joan Collins. The people put their trust in us to pass legislation they want. I mean no disrespect to any senior counsel or to the Attorney General but I have a fear of inserting into the Constitution small individual lines to satisfy a political desire, whether it is something with which I agree or fundamentally disagree, to transfer responsibility from where it should always lie, that is, the Oireachtas and its Members, to a small group in the Judiciary to arbitrate, at some point in the future, on some case that cannot be foreseen by anybody in this room relating to the idea that the Government shall be collectively responsible for the protection, management and maintenance of the public water system and shall ensure, in the public interest, that this remains the case.

I began my political involvement when I was very young in the 1980s and I have seen where we can end up when, with the best of intentions, people insert lines in the Constitution to copperfasten something they believe in and end up with exactly the opposite to what they thought they were doing. The Minister's caution is well placed. The triple-lock mechanism in place at present, ironically, is probably an even greater protection. At the end of the day, if a constitutional amendment is passed, one can go back to the people and ask them to vote again. There is built into the triple-lock a provision that requires consultation through a vote of the public on any Oireachtas decision. My worry is not the wording or the proposal per se but the solution to what we want to achieve, which is to ensure that without the consent of the people and the Oireachtas, the water of this country cannot end up in private hands, is not best served by using this process.