Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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131. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the Government has set a date for a referendum on establishing full public ownership of Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6205/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is committed to holding a referendum on water. It is important to note that the establishment of Uisce Éireann in public ownership is already firmly secured under the Water Services Acts 2007 to 2022 whereby all shares of Uisce Éireann are vested in the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform with both Ministers being prevented by law from alienating their shares.

I am currently awaiting the wording on a housing referendum from the Housing Commission. My planned approach here is to bring forward a referendum proposal on water ownership for consideration by Government in conjunction with the anticipated recommendation of a proposed referendum on housing. In this way, it is intended that definitive proposals, including timelines, for referenda on water and housing will be considered by Government in the near future.