The Order of Business is No. 1, statements on Irish Water, to be taken at 11.45, with the contribution of all Senators not to exceed five minutes and the Minister to be called on to reply to the debate no later than 1.50 p.m.; No. 2, Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2014 - Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 2.30 p.m.; No. 3, Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Bill 2014 - Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken on the conclusion of No. 2; and No. 56, motion No. 10, Private Members' business, to be taken on the conclusion of No. 3, with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that motion 11 be taken before No. 1. That motion states: "That Seanad Éireann requests the Government to initiate legislation to provide for a constitutional referendum to enshrine the ownership of Irish Water to the Irish people in perpetuity." One of the major issues with regard to the management of water charging has been the manner in which Irish Water is set up as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis Éireann. Effectively the sole shareholder in that is the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the equivalent Minister in any future government. He or she will be that shareholder and there is nothing to prevent the Government or any future Government from-----

For clarification, it is No. 56, motion 11.

It is No. 56, motion 11.

There is nothing to prevent any Minister with responsibility for the environment from selling Irish Water. Water is not a utility that can be just sold; it is owned by the Irish people. That should be enshrined in the Constitution. The Taoiseach has mentioned his intention to introduce legislation on this, which he believes will strengthen-----

We already have some.

Senator O'Brien, without interruption.

The problem with primary legislation is that it can be changed by any future Government. If legislation was introduced stating that a majority of two thirds of the Dáil and Seanad was required to vote for the privatisation of Irish Water, that can be changed by legislation should some Government in the future decide to sell Irish Water. This is not a political point to be made, it is a fact, but the concerns of thousands upon thousands of people do not relate solely to the charges but to the structure in which Irish Water has been set up and the fact that it is set up in such a way that in the future it could be privatised. It is not ours to sell.

Water is a resource of the Irish people. Something as fundamental as a right to water should be enshrined in Bunreacht na hÉireann. Next March, there will be a series of referenda on points that have come through the Constitutional Convention. I welcome that. Three referenda are planned. There is nothing whatsoever to stop this Government, to clear any doubt over this issue, from having a fourth referendum on that day. That fourth referendum would be to put the question to the Irish people that Irish Water and the water resource in this country stays in the ownership of the Irish people in perpetuity. That is what I propose today by way of an amendment to the Order of Business and that while we have the Minister, Deputy Kelly, here that, as part of the debate, one hour would be set aside for this specific issue. I urgently call and urge those on all sides of the House to support this. The Seanad will have stood up and done something real in this regard and will put it to the Dáil to initiate legislation. The Seanad cannot initiate legislation, unfortunately, to initiate a referendum. What we can do is speak very strongly as one, as the upper Chamber of the Oireachtas, and say that this is what we want, that we want to ensure that water is owned in perpetuity by the Irish people and can never be sold off to private interests.