Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 4, line 4, after "Water" to insert "or any of its assets or any part of its assets,".

This comes to the nub of the issue. Unfortunately, for him, the Minister let the cat out of the bag in his previous contribution. My amendment seeks to ensure that the assets of Irish Water are also subject to the same plebiscite provisions, flawed as they are, that the Minister proposes. When I raised this issue previously the Minister answered by saying that is prohibited by the Water Services Act 2007. That is the whole point. We are bringing in a plebiscite so that we go further than legislation. Previously the sale of shares in Irish Water was prohibited by legislation and now the Minister is introducing the belt and braces approach that he prefers.