Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In common with other Deputies, I acknowledge that the Minister has decided to amend the legislation to remove the word "may" and add "shall". The amount of time that was taken up in the debate on this issue last week makes one wonder why there is resistance within the Government and the Civil Service to holding a referendum to define clearly the ownership of Irish Water and water services and put the issue to bed once and for all and why that resistance is so trenchant. Perhaps it might have something to do with the other forces about which Deputy Fergus O'Dowd spoke when he was present in the Chamber last week and the risk of possible privatisation of water services. The fact remains that it will be open to any future Government to bring in a one page item of legislation to delete this subsection from the Bill. This then would automatically allow for the alienation of the shares within Irish Water and it is not inconceivable that this could happen. While Deputy Brian Stanley made the point about not knowing what type of politician will be in the House in the future, it is more than likely that the politicians who are already on the other side of the House will be the ones who will bring forward such legislation to amend the Bill. There is a possibility that there could be outside shocks or external pressure from the European Union to make the privatisation of Irish Water happen, but it is more than likely that it will come from internal sources within the political system here because the ideology of the Government clearly is to outsource and privatise public services and resources.

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