Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

It is unfortunate that Deputy Naughten was not allowed to outline the reason he was given for his amendment being ruled out of order. It would be helpful to have that clarification.

The Minister must see that nothing short of a referendum will satisfy the people. Despite what he says, he clearly is not listening to what he is being told. I wish to refer to an analogy I heard being made by one of the members of the Detroit water brigade who travelled here yesterday to take part in the demonstrations. Before doing so, I must say that I cannot understand why the Labour Party is not being much more robust on this issue. The Minister is insisting that Deputy Catherine Murphy's amendment is too restrictive and the other proposals are too cumbersome.

I would have thought that the Government, if it wants to respect the will of the people, would be seeking to ensure that water services will never be privatised and will remain in public ownership.

The analogy to which I refer is that which relates to the monkey and the crocodile. In this old story, the monkey is trying to cross the river and the crocodile knows that it cannot reach the other side without some help. The crocodile says, "Monkey, jump on my back and I will bring you across". The monkey is very nervous but he eventually jumps onto the crocodile's tail because he has to get across the river. The crocodile begins to swim across the river and says, "Lovely day, nice weather" and asks, "How is your family?" When the monkey tries to answer, the crocodile says, "Move to the middle of my back because I cannot really hear you". The monkey very nervously moves to the middle of the crocodile's back and chats away. Then the crocodile says, "Move a bit closer. I cannot hear you and I want to have a chat with you". The monkey, again very nervously, moves forward. After two minutes of conversation the crocodile turns his head and grabs the monkey between his jaws. When the monkey asks, "Why are you eating me", the crocodile replies "It is in my nature to do so".

This analogy reflects the position with regard to international capitalism. Huge water companies, such as Veolia, etc., are encroaching in countries across the globe in an effort to have public services privatised. If the Minister were serious about this matter, he would introduce the most robust legislative provision possible in order to ensure that our water will protected from the big multinationals to which I refer. Nothing short of a referendum to amend the Constitution will facilitate this. If the Minister does not ensure that it will be necessary to hold such a referendum in order to allow the people to have their say, then that will be his and the Government's legacy. I urge him to think again and to inform his colleagues - as the former Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd did - that he is not happy with what is proposed because it leaves the door open. He should inform the other members of the Cabinet that we do not want a situation similar to that involving the monkey and the crocodile to befall the people of Ireland or the country's water services. The Minister should make provision for a referendum - to be held in conjunction with those which are already planned - to protect public water in this country under the Constitution. If he does this, the many people and communities that are extremely concerned about this matter will be happy.

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