As Fianna Fáil leader, the Taoiseach led the party into a confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael in 2016, ten years ago. That was in the wake of large-scale water protests, which resulted eventually in the abolition of domestic water charges and the setting up of a special Oireachtas committee on water services. I and former Deputy Thomas Pringle represented the Independent TDs on that committee. That Government, which the Taoiseach supported, promised and committed to bring forward a referendum to put public ownership of water services into Bunreacht na hÉireann. Ten years later, we are no nearer to that referendum. I compliment former TDs and colleagues, Joan Collins and Thomas Pringle, for their efforts in pursuing this referendum and introducing the Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Water in Public Ownership) (No. 2) Bill 2016. In the intervening years, that commitment has been given by successive taoisigh and Ministers. In 2017, the Oireachtas committee on water unanimously agreed that a referendum should be held. In 2019, the then Minister, Eoghan Murphy of Fine Gael, promised that a referendum would take place in the first half of 2020. The programme for Government in 2020, Our Shared Future, again promised a referendum to "Retain Irish Water in public ownership as a national, standalone, regulated utility." In November 2022, Micheál Martin, as Taoiseach, told the Dáil that the Government intended to hold a referendum on housing and water in, as he said, the near future, and that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, would be in a position to act on these issues early in the new year in 2023. In March 2023, the then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said the Government was committed to holding a constitutional referendum to keep Irish Water in public ownership. Ten years later, and after all those commitments, we are no nearer to that referendum. Where is the referendum relating to the Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Water in Public Ownership) (No. 2) Bill 2022? When will the Minister bring this Bill forward to the Dáil? When does the Government intend to call a referendum to put water services into the Constitution as a public utility?

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No, it has not.

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It has been ten years.

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The Government has certainly not honoured its ten years of commitments, as I outlined. All those commitments have been broken. The Taoiseach has not answered the questions. We can only presume that he and the Government wish to keep the door open to the future privatisation of water services in this country. The Taoiseach must know that if that happened, it would be an absolute disaster. We only need to look across the water to the UK to see this. The UK water sector struggles with a combination of massive debt, failing infrastructure and underinvestment. It is now generally accepted that the UK privatised-for-profit water services model is flawed. Profits and dividends are prioritised over modernisation. Thames Water, for instance, has a debt burden of about €20 billion and is facing collapse. The Taoiseach should close the door on privatisation, announce a referendum, as he and previous taoisigh committed to over the past ten years. He should honour those commitments.

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What about the referendum?

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The Taoiseach promised a referendum.

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The Taoiseach has not honoured his commitment-----

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Answer the question.

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He is not answering the question; he is deflecting.

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