A referendum next March would put an end to the argument around public water services, SIPTU has said.

It is calling on the Government to hold a vote on public ownership of water services on March 8th 2024 - the same day it plans to hold referenda on the definition of the family and women in the home.

The issue of water came to the fore back in 2014 when huge crowds took to the streets in protest at planned water charges.

SIPTU Community Division Organiser Karan O'Loughlin told Newstalk Breakfast she believes the reasons for a water referendum are two-fold.

"One is because it's the right thing to do, and two is because Minister Darragh O'Brien has already committed to it in the Water Framework Agreement that was signed in June 2022," she said.

"There's lots of positive talk about it but there's no actual date.

"I think there's a very large public appetite to ensure that water and the water infrastructure remains within the control of the State and remains a public utility.

"There is no appetite in this country to have water as a private commodity that is operated and sold to the public for profit".

 'No guarantee'

Ms O'Loughlin said while there is no talk of privatisation now, there was previously.

"Initially when the Water Services Act was passed in 2013, and a decision was taken to create a single utility for the provision of water, there was no guarantee that that utility was going to remain in public ownership," she said.

"Then there was water protests, industrial disputes and eventually the Government settled on the position that there would be a single utility that would not be privately-owned.

"That's the decision, but that can't be left in the hands of any particular government".

An anti-water charges protest sign in Dublin, 1-11-2014. Image: Andrew Steven Graham / Alamy

Ms O'Loughlin said a referendum would be the final step in the water debate.

"Once the utility is defined by referendum as having to remain in public ownership that is the end of that argument," she said.

"Right now any particular government could decide as a matter of policy that they would privatise and they could move ahead with that.

"Just because it's not happening today doesn't mean it won't happen tomorrow, we have to plan for the future," she added.

Ms O'Loughlin said a referendum has already been decided on but the date has yet to be picked.

Main image: A ballot paper is seen marked during a referendum vote count at the RDS, Dublin in May 2018. Image: RollingNews.ie / Alamy Stock Photo