James Bannon (Fine Gael)

Why does the Minister of State have such difficulty accepting the amendments, which seek to guarantee the public that the system will not be privatised? Given his statement that no water charges will be introduced and that the system will not be privatised why then does he have a difficulty accepting the amendments? I have no doubt that the licensing system proposed in the Bill will be used for the privatisation of water services. The legislation puts in place the structure required to do so and passes responsibility in that regard from the local authorities to the new water services authority. That is a good way of disengaging the two in terms of future privatisation.

The amendments seek to ensure privatisation will not come on stream in the future. The Government reneged on many of the promises it made prior to the last general election. How can we trust it on this one?