Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The expert commission, the Oireachtas committee and the Dáil all agreed that the ownership of water services be enshrined in the Constitution by means of a referendum. This Bill sought to do that. I thank Deputy Collins for her forbearance and patience as we sit at this apparent impasse. As the Deputy mentioned, the Bill had the support of the Dáil in its efforts to reflect and to ensure that that commitment would honoured. It is disappointing that the Government has not proposed amendments to reflect the opinion that has been furnished to it by the Attorney General, or a wording to address the fears of unintended consequences for private and group water schemes as related to us by the Minister.

Voting for the Bill in its present form is compromising private and group water schemes, and that is not something I wish to have to do. Against that background, and taking into account what has been said here today and based on the commitment and consensus that exists, there is an onus of responsibility on the Government to act. This is notwithstanding the fact that we have been waiting for 15 months for amendments to be proposed. It was unanimously agreed in the Dáil that this issue be addressed in the way this Bill seeks. We have not only heard from the Minister and the Government but also the Confederation of Group Water Schemes. A legal presentation was also made available to us by the Oireachtas as well. Based on that information, it is incumbent that a correct wording to reflect the fears of unintended consequences be found.

To that end, I hope there would be agreement for deferral and a timescale put in place to seek to hold the Government and its drafters to account in providing the relevant wording that would meet their approval. In itself, this would dispel the fears that Deputy Barry raised in quoting some of the Taoiseach's comments in response to questions about this recently. I expect that is not the view of the Government as I heard the Minister relay the commitment to this process. I ask the committee's indulgence to see if we can agree a deferral and put some time limit on a process that would allow the Government to meet Deputy Joan Collins and give her some assurance, as proposer of the Bill, that the process has an end game rather than it petering out. The same fears referred to by other speakers remain and will only grow in many minds with regard to the aspirations of the Dáil not being met. It could go to the contrary.