The Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Water in Public Ownership) (No. 2) Bill 2016 passed Second Stage without any opposition last November. It seeks to enshrine ownership and management of our public water system in the Constitution by way of a referendum. The Taoiseach has outlined a programme of seven referenda over the next year or so but there is no mention of a referendum on water. The former Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, is on record as being in favour of a referendum and the current Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has indicated to me informally that he would also be in favour of such a referendum. In my view there is widespread support for such a referendum. One of the main factors behind the opposition to water charges was the belief that paying for water would eventually lead to privatisation in the future. The expert group on water charges, despite having no remit on the issue, took the unprecedented step of including in its report a recommendation for a referendum, given that virtually every submission made to it raised this issue.

That recommendation was reiterated in the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services. The Bill has been sitting in scrutiny for nearly a year now while the Minister responsible awaits advice from the Attorney General. This is because of some concern over the private group schemes and over wells on private land. My legal adviser, Séamus Ó Tuathail, SC, spoke at the committee and stated that there is a clear distinction between the public and private water systems and that the Bill makes it clear that it refers only to the former. If the Attorney General has concerns, however, I am sure that these could be met through the appropriate wording of the Bill.

My real concern is that there is a Government strategy, possibly supported by Fianna Fáil, to let this Bill sit in committee and wither and die. I ask the Taoiseach to give a commitment that this is not the case; to acknowledge that the Attorney General has had considerable time to scrutinise the legislation; to move amendments on Committee Stage proper so that they can be scrutinised; to send the Bill back here for final Stages; and to set a date for the referendum.

I understand that the Bill is still under consideration. As to the appropriateness of any wording, I have not spoken to the Attorney General about it for some time so I will have to do so in the coming weeks and see where he is with it. I would point out, however, that any urgency on the referendum on the ownership of public water has gone. When Irish Water was set up as a semi-State company with water charges to cover most of its income, I can understand that there was a concern, even if I do not agree with it, that it might have been privatised in the future. There is now absolutely no possibility of our public water services being privatised because they require a State subvention of €1 billion a year, both capital and current, just to exist. Privatising our public water services is like suggesting that somebody might want to privatise our national schools: it is impossible and absurd. I can understand that there was a worry about this, even though it was not a legitimate one, when we were going the commercial semi-State route. Now that we are not, however, it is hardly relevant anymore. I would like to prioritise referenda over the next few years that actually make a difference and might actually change something. I just do not see the value of having a referendum to say that we cannot privatise our national schools, our cemeteries or the like.

I am obviously underwhelmed by the Taoiseach's response. There is popular support for this referendum, as the Taoiseach is well aware. Many Right to Change and Right to Water activists signed and campaigned for this. The reason there was such an intense and strong opposition to the installation of meters in communities was that there was an understanding that every meter installed brought us one step closer to privatisation. Practically every party and group in the Dáil has spoken in favour of this Bill, and during the debate on the Water Services Bill last week nearly every Deputy spoke on this referendum. The Taoiseach has stated that this referendum is not urgent. The question of excess water is on the agenda of Fine Gael's Water Services Bill, however. It is not in the form of a fine as agreed by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil at committee; it is now in the form of a payment. The Bill also gives the Minister the right to reduce the excessive water limit in five years' time. We know that big multinationals are out there waiting to take our water and they are willing to wait a long time for it. It is really crucial, then, that this country enshrines the right to a public water system in our Constitution for future generations. It should be done.

I disagree with Deputy Collins's analysis of this. Irish Water is no longer a commercial entity. It requires a subvention from the taxpayer of €1 billion a year just to exist. Who is going to buy that? Nobody is. There are no plans and no realistic possibility of there being any privatisation of public water services in the future. The referenda which we have given an indicative schedule for are those which will actually make a difference to people's lives. It may be a minor difference in some cases, for example, ending the prohibition on blasphemy. In other cases the difference could be very significant, such as allowing people to get divorced more quickly. I do not see how this water referendum would make a blind bit of difference because Irish Water is quite simply not a commercial entity and there is no possibility of it being privatised.