Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Given that my colleague was in full flow, I did not want to interrupt him, so I conceded some of my time to him. I congratulate Deputy Stanley on the publication of the Bill. It is very appropriate that we discuss it today, especially in light of the announcements the Government made yesterday, when it went a little way to try to address some of the concerns about the privatisation of our water supply. Yesterday's announcements will not satisfy the anger and emotion of the 150,000 people who took to the streets only two weeks ago. It is a genuine concern. Last night, I listened to the contribution of the former Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O’Dowd, in the Chamber and the concerns he raised about the possibility of privatisation when he was the Minister of State in charge of the process. He sought that the legislation would ensure that privatisation of our water supply could never happen. The only way to ensure this is by going to the people in a referendum and copperfastening it in the Constitution.

In recent days I have listened to numerous Government spokespersons, and the line being trotted out is that no Deputy or Minister is in favour of privatisation. Even if I accept this at face value, if it is the case, why can we not copperfasten this in the Constitution by holding a referendum? The idea of a plebiscite does not wash with people. In the past 70 years there has been only one national plebiscite, in the 1930s, although there have been some local and regional plebiscites, including one in County Kerry recently about the renaming of a town.

The reality is that people do not trust the Government. Its track record makes it clear why people do not trust it. We were told people would have to submit PPS numbers because the system would not work unless it had them, yet the need for the numbers was absent in yesterday's announcement. We were told the possibility that the water service would be privatised could not arise under current legislation, but in yesterday's announcement it was stated additional legalisation would be introduced. The reality is that the Government made a balls of things yesterday; it made a mess of things. It did not listen to the people.

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