Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I did not intend to say any of that, but if the Deputy is going to make political charges, I am going to defend my party. We brought forward legislation to ensure water would be kept in public ownership. I absolutely reject any intention to privatise. We also published a Bill which would have required the holding of a referendum to keep water in public ownership, with other infrastructure, including gas and electricity, as did other parties. There are three pieces of legislation in train in that regard. We are quite clear that we support the holding of a referendum to maintain water in public ownership.

I absolutely reject the Deputy's assertion that because we voted against the report, we reject everything contained in it. We support fairness for those who have paid and a number of other elements with regard to conservation, etc.

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