Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The reason this issue has become so important is because people, from bitter experience, do not trust the political establishment. It is incredible to hear a Labour Party Deputy blithely absolve herself and others of any blame for breaking her party's election promises on the grounds that Fine Gael's policies were different during the course of the election. Suddenly, the massively expensive Tesco style advertisements which promised to protect the ordinary hard-pressed people from all of the hurts Fine Gael would inflict were gone. Is it any wonder that people do not take as gospel the promise that the parties opposite will never participate in any move to privatise Irish Water? The reality is that people's fears are justified in regard to privatisation. In respect of another public service, domestic refuse collection, people have seen Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party privatise on a local level-----

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