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Government to examine holding referendum on ownership of water services

The Government is to examine a referendum on the ownership of water services. The Cabinet gave pe...
Newstalk
Newstalk

19.46 20 Nov 2018


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Government to examine holding...

Government to examine holding referendum on ownership of water services

Newstalk
Newstalk

19.46 20 Nov 2018


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The Government is to examine a referendum on the ownership of water services.

The Cabinet gave permission to the Attorney-General to draft amendments to a number of bills already brought by opposition politicians.

There were legal concerns about proposals for a referendum in the manner already put forward.

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The Attorney-General will now examine how they can be changed, with the possibility of a referendum on the issue now on the cards.

Fianna Fáil's Stephen Donnelly said earlier while it is a welcome move, referendums like this are hardly a priority right now.

"We have doctors and nurses working in conditions in emergency medicine that would verge on violation of their human rights - we have a homelessness, housing, affordable housing crisis.

"The Government doesn't appear to be focusing on what matters.

"So we've just had a referendum, for example, on blasphemy - it seems that there are more important things going on".

In April 2017, a report from the Oireachtas Committee on Future Funding of Domestic Water Services recommended a referendum on public ownership be held.

The Dáil voted 96 to 48 to accept the report, which also included the effective abolition of water charges.

One of its recommendations stated that it "supports the concept of a referendum on the issue of water services continuing in public ownership and believes that public ownership should be enshrined in the Constitution as an extra measure of protection against any privatisation."

"The wording of this amendment must be carefully scrutinised to ensure that it does not impact upon the status of Group Water Schemes and individual domestic water supplies and their connection to the private network", it added.

Additional reporting: Jack Quann


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