Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2020
290. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of the efforts by his Department to create a single water utility; and his plans to bring forward legislation to provide for a referendum to enshrine public ownership of the public water system in the Constitution. [14097/20]
View answerThe Programme for Government provides that the Government will retain Irish Water in public ownership as a national, stand-alone, regulated utility.
In this context, in September 2018, the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) reported on a process of engagement, undertaken with the parties involved in the water sector transformation programme, including ICTU and relevant affiliated unions, local government management through the County and City Management Association, Ervia/Irish Water and my Department. Subsequent to this, and commencing in February 2019, there has been an ongoing series of engagements to work towards the development of a stable structural and operational framework for the future to replace the existing system of Service Level Agreements between Irish Water and each of the 31 local authorities, although progress to date has been slow.
Consistent with the Programme for Government and building on the work that has been undertaken to date through the WRC, I am planning to bring forward a clear set of policy recommendations setting out my own and the Government’s expectations. To this end, I look forward to communicating directly with the parties involved.
I recognise the challenges arising, and the concerns which all parties have, notably the workers. The proposed changes also give rise to significant challenges for the local government sector in Ireland. Any process of transformation needs to be cognisant of the potential impacts on the wider local government system.
On the matter of a proposed referendum, the Programme for Government provides for the referral of the issue of the environment, including water, and its place in the Constitution, to a relevant Joint Oireachtas Committee for consideration.
