Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Gavan's amendment to the Order Paper. I ask for an update from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on the timing of a referendum on water ownership. Today is World Water Day and the trade union umbrella group, Keep Water Public, was outside Leinster House. I hope Members got out to meet them and to show their support for a referendum on keeping the ownership of water in public hands.

There is a commitment to hold a referendum on this issue. In November there will be a referendum on Article 41.2 of the Constitution and the reference to woman's place in the home. It would make a lot of sense to have a referendum on water ownership at the same time. Not only would it reduce the cost of holding a referendum, it would also increase the turnout because we know that water is a major issue for the public. We have seen the largest rallies in the history of the State take place on this issue. One of the key concerns of people was around the non-privatisation of our water supply.A referendum would safeguard public ownership of water for future generations. Equally, trade unions are supportive of this because our workforce in water services consists of highly-skilled, well-trained and well-qualified people. Why would they move from the local authorities to Irish Water if there is a potential for it to be privatised? They have been burned by the privatisation of the waste sector and the bin companies. When the timeframe in respect of the transfer of undertakings, TUPE, regulations ended, they saw an impact on their working conditions and consequently, we need that referendum to protect that skilled workforce. We need only look across the water to what happened in Britain when Margaret Thatcher privatised water. We see the heavy borrowing that households must pay for on their bills. We see large salaries for the top cats and very little tax being paid by those companies. I would like an update on when we will get the referendum on public ownership of water.