Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Green Party, I welcome this Bill and look forward to a referendum to enshrine in our Constitution that our water would be held in public ownership. This is a fundamental issue for our future. Water is a precious natural resource and we must look after it. We have a responsibility to use it wisely. A fundamentally important aspect to the necessary new approach to the management of the resource is to have it stated in our Constitution that it is our water supply and that it is not a commercial product and never can be. I commend Deputy Collins for proposing the Bill and am glad that other parties are signing up to it. The initial Right2Water campaign across Europe centred on the issue of who owns our public water supply and how it is viewed. Is it to be viewed as a basic right or as a commercial product? We see it as a basic right. People should get a basic allowance for free to meet their everyday needs. Water should be measured and its use monitored and there should be a charge for wasteful use. This has to start from first principles and there should be a referendum guaranteeing public ownership of water. This is an important first step. I look forward to the referendum. The debate we will have at that time may help us come to terms with the issue of water. We would be taking responsibility for it and putting it into our Constitution that it is our resource to use as we see fit.

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