Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We had a lottery Act that did not allow for the issuing of a licence to a private body and then we simply had a section in the other Act repealing the previous Act. That is what will happen here. In fairness to Senator O'Donnell, I think that point is unanswerable.

The Minister has repeatedly said that no party has proposed this. Actually Senator Walsh reminded me of the Sinn Féin policy document which has been buried very effectively since September. Sinn Féin called for equity investment in Irish Water as a way to avoid charges. That went completely unnoticed by the media at the time and I think Sinn Féin is very embarrassed about it now. That document was only issued in September before the two by-elections.