Irish Water is a subject that gets almost every politician talking and now it seems the Social Democrats want the highly controversial topic discussed by all 158 TD’s elected in February instead of it being debated by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael only.
The party who had a rather successful maiden Election campaign have said that the future of the much hated state utility must be discussed by all those who were elected to the Dail and not just Mr Kenny and Mr Martin. The party say the issue and a decision on its future must be put in the hands of those who are speaking for the Irish people given it is such a highly controversial topic.
The Social Democrats wrote a brief statement on its website which reads :
It is not acceptable that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have decided it is an issue that can only be decided between themselves in a closed room. This issue must come before the entire Dáil where a democratic vote can take place in order to truly reflect the mandate of the electorate on this particular issue.
We are calling for the water issue to be taken out of the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil negotiating room and put into the Dáil as a matter of urgency.
This approach would serve two purposes – it would remove what appears to be the biggest stumbling block in the negotiations and it would ensure a truly democratic decision is reached regarding the future of Irish Water.
We call on all parties to facilitate such an approach and have Irish Water placed on the Dáil agenda this week.