Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is putting it into the hands of politicians, and who knows what kind of politicians we will have and what kind of Government majority there will be in the future? By putting it into the Constitution, the Minister would put water services and resources into the hands of the Irish people. What does the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, think is wrong with that? The Government must trust the Irish people. A number of referendums will take place next year. The two referendums scheduled to take place in May are welcome. All the Government has to do is produce another A5 sheet of paper asking the people to choose "Yes" or "No" regarding a proposal to insert an amendment into the Constitution that water services and resources belong to the State and cannot be privatised. I introduced a simple Bill to insert such a provision, and the Government voted against it.

In their heart of hearts, the Labour Party Members understand how legislation, the Government, the Dáil and the Seanad work and how matters can change. The one way the Minister can do this is the way his colleagues in the Seanad did it a few weeks ago: by supporting the proposal that we amend the Constitution to copperfasten this and put it to bed for once and for all. There are probably people in Fine Gael with whom this does not sit right - people who want it kept in public ownership. I suspect there are others in Fine Gael who could not care less whether it is privatised, and I am addressing them also.

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