Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, gave a commitment in the House to another group of essential workers, the water workers, that there would be a referendum on the control and ownership of water and on keeping it in public hands and that there would be a guarantee made over their jobs and conditions, in particular their rostered overtime and extra allowances. They have never, ever received that in writing from the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, or the county and city management association, CCMA, who are their employers. Who is running the show here? What is driving hundreds of workers across 12 local authorities to take strike action today and tomorrow and to have local authorities issue boil-water notices to thousands of households? The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien's, commitment to the workers needs to be translated into actual meaningful commitments by the employers of water workers across the country. We need to see commitments on their terms, conditions and pay and a commitment to a date for a referendum on keeping water in public control.

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