Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The way of really ensuring that, as the Minister of State knows, is to have a referendum for constitutional change. There should be an amendment to the Constitution to enshrine that. The concern here is that a private company has been lined up - Mott MacDonald has been named in media - to provide services in relation to capital works for Uisce Éireann. As I understand it, the partner of that company is J. Murphy and Sons. In the press release from that company back in October, Mott MacDonald stated "The building, repair and upgrading of Uisce Éireann’s water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, water and sewer network requires a multi-billion euro investment programme over many years." It concluded that as the company looks to improve current infrastructure, build capacity for the future growth and meet the challenges of achieving carbon neutrality, the capital investment plan will aim to bring in those funds from the private sector investors. That is what it said. That last sentence was subsequently deleted from the press release. I am looking for clarification from the Minister of State on this important issue.

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