In less than two weeks (28th February) the Oireachtas Committee on Housing will vote on a Bill that seeks to enshrine public ownership of our water system in the Constitution.

If the committee votes in favour of the Bill, we will be another step closer to ensuring that no Government can privatise our water and sanitation system in the future. 

Almost all political parties say they support the public ownership of water – now’s their chance to prove it! 

Water privatisation is taking place all across the world with devastating impacts. Hundreds of thousands of families in the UK are living in water poverty, water shut-offs for low income households are taking place in the US and Europe and corporations are extracting massive profits and dividends at the expense of ordinary workers. 

This Bill could help prevent that taking place in Ireland. 

The Thirty Fifth Amendment to the Constitution (Water in Public Ownership) Bill was introduced by Deputy Joan Collins in 2016. It was signed by all Right2Water TDs including Sinn Féin, Solidarity/People Before Profit, Independents4Change and others. 

Now, if the eleven political representatives on the Housing Committee vote for the Bill on the 28th of February, we will almost certainly have our long-awaited referendum to prevent the privatisation of our water system.

The Bill seeks to amend Article 28 of the Constitution to include: “The Government shall be collectively responsible for the protections, management and maintenance of the public water system. The Government shall ensure the public interest that this resource shall remain in public ownership and management.” 

The Government’s “Expert Commission on Domestic Water Services” said worries about privatisation was the “most commonly expressed message” from the public during their consultation process.

The Special Joint Oireachtas Committee (cross-party) on the Future Funding of Water Services said 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.”

More than 80 percent of the public support public ownership of water services. 

So give us our referendum NOW! 

Please email, phone and visit your local TD’s over the next two weeks and tell them to support this Bill.