Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

The starting point for this discussion has to be that access to water is a human right and access to it should be based on need rather than ability to pay. The provision of the service does cost money. We know this because we have paid for it through a central taxation system. The idea that water would be treated as a commodity to be profited from is absolutely reprehensible to most citizens. They are not stupid and know that the experience of privatisation has been incredibly bitter. In some instances, it forces the renationalisation of a service because a hames has been made of the process. When Paris was forced to renationalise the service, it saved €35 million straightaway. If one privatises a company, the fat cat salaries, bonuses and profits have to be covered. Who pays for them? The cost is borne by those on whom the bills are levied and also by a creaking infrastructure that does not benefit from the investment it deserves because the money is diverted to those at the top.

The doublespeak of the Government on this issue in recent weeks and months has been firmly exposed through the measures announced by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, yesterday. The mantra was that the service was protected and could never be sold or privatised based on the legislation already in place, but this has now been contradicted by the Government. It is admitting there is a need for another provision. Rather than making a decision to this effect or allowing the people make the decision, at a time when they have never been more engaged in an issue in their history, the Government is including some wishy-washy clause stating a future Government can deal with this issue.

The Sinn Féin motion is timely and absolutely appropriate. An interesting lesson the Government would do well to remember concerns what happened in Bolivia. In that country water privatisation resulted in a quadrupling of the price. Not only that, the political fallout from the mishandling of the water issue resulted in a political transformation of the country. Our history will follow in its path.

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