Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The reason I and other Senators want to move beyond the plebiscite to constitutional protection is that legislation can be changed, and we certainly know from experience what could come from Europe. Everyone in the Chamber should cast their minds back to the famous letter of December 2010, which I read today, from Mr. Jean-Claude Trichet to the then Minister for Finance, the late Deputy Brian Lenihan and Mr. Patrick Honohan, the Governor of the Central Bank. Mr. Trichet demanded structural reforms, and a nightmare that none of us could ever have dreamed ensued when the European Central Bank acted totally beyond its mandate in demanding them. A few weeks later the first memorandum of understanding was signed, and it contained two structural reforms. One of them was that Irish people must be charged for water, and they laid out for us in black and white exactly what we should do. We do not have any crystal balls but, having read this memo of understanding this afternoon, it is not outside the realm of possibility that a future Irish Government might come under very serious, perhaps legal, pressure from Europe. What is to stop an EU competition law being thrust upon us and directing us to privatise our water?