Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I conclude in the same fashion I began my contribution on Report Stage. There are many positive elements in this Bill. I acknowledge that the Minister accepted many changes to the Bill. He did so by making many of the amendments suggested on Committee Stage his own. This is a change from most Ministers, who bury their heads in the sand and march on. I agree with Deputy Gilmore that it is a better Bill because of these changes.

Unfortunately, there are a number of worrying elements in the Bill. Privatisation came close to being settled but I remain worried about the difference between the transfer of an asset, which cannot happen, and the transfer of the use of an asset. The latter is not prohibited in the Bill. Therefore, there is a significant get-out clause for privatising the delivery of water services to domestic users. I hope that is not the case but it is still on the cards and the privatisation issue can be carried through this Bill. I oppose the Bill.

The other issue is charges for the domestic supply of water. These are not called water charges but the effect is the same. I am concerned that the Bill provides for this. As with privatisation, it is implicit rather than explicit and is most unfortunate. While other Acts ban water charges this Bill is a sleight of hand, facilitating charging for water by another name. It damages the good parts of the Bill, which is unfortunate. This will be one of the concluding Bills of the 29th Dáil, we had an interesting debate on it and so much for that.

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