Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No, I am not. The Minister's amendment seeks to increase the board of Irish Water and I am questioning why the board needs to be increased. Bord Gáis achieved much with a board of six people. Having increased the board of Irish Water to eight in 2013, why must it now increase to ten? Will provisions be introduced to ensure there will be no conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest?

Why is it important that Ervia be included in the Bill? Ervia is included because under the legislation that created Irish Water last year, Ervia, then Bord Gáis, received a single share in Irish Water. The Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Finance each received a number of shares. The crucial point is that Ervia's is the only votable share. When it comes to an AGM, Ervia will have the only votable share. All of the discussion about the difference between referendums and plebiscites and between the words “may” and “shall” is a red herring in the context of the fact that Ervia holds the only votable share.

The Act of 2013 which increased the number of board members in Bord Gáis also contained a provision on the majority shareholding of the capital stock - preferential stock - that, “The majority-shareholding Minister, the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform shall not sell, exchange, surrender or otherwise dispose of all or any of the capital stock held by him or her under section 7B without the prior consent of the Government.” While the 2013 Bill that established Irish Water specified that shares would be issued to the Ministers for Finance and the Environment, Community and Local Government, it did not specify that they could not dispose of the shares without the Government's prior approval. The Act states Bord Gáis, now Ervia, shall not, without the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, alienate the share issued to it, in accordance with subsection (4). This does not mean that in order for the Ministers to permit this to happen, there must be prior approval from the Government; there does not. The wording of the proposal in the plebiscite is, "Where the Government proposes at any time to cause the initiation in either House of the Oireachtas of proposed legislation to allow the alienation of shares in Irish Water". Why would any Government initiate legislation it is not required to initiate when it can just dispose of the shares without doing so?

See this speech in context