Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Section 13 pertains to the board of Ervia. The board of Ervia, unencumbered by referendums, plebiscites and legislation from this House, can vote and make a decision to alienate the shares. We must face reality. Although we can talk around in circles for as long as we want, I can foresee something in the future. I am not one who says Irish Water cannot and will not be privatised, that privatisation is beyond contemplation. The Bill which established Irish Water in 2013 clearly makes it very easy to privatise Irish Water, far easier than other pieces of State infrastructure. A future Attorney General will advise a future Government on the legislation. We have all heard the Attorney General's advice. We heard it in the mid-west on the Heathrow Airport slots. Shareholdings were to be maintained which protected the State's interests and to be used to ensure nothing like the loss of the Heathrow Airport slots could occur. However, it did occur. Every member of the Government hid behind the Attorney General's advice and I foresee it happening again.

No matter what we do here, it will be subject to statute, which a future Government will be able to change. If the Minister wants to make it more difficult for a future Government to privatise Irish Water, I suggest Ervia's shareholding be transferred at a given time. The date by which it is posited that all or many of the infrastructural developments will be competed is 2017. When the parent company has achieved what it set out to do, namely, to develop the infrastructure, perhaps we should contemplate in legislation handing over the single, magic, votable share to a consumer co-operative held by the customers of Irish Water. As the people who would be most affected by the privatisation of Irish Water, they are the ones who should control it. I look forward to an explanation from the Minister as to why we need to increase the size of the board and whether provisions will be introduced to ensure there will be no further perceived conflicts of interest.

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