Opposition TDs have reacted angrily to the Dáil’s passage of the Water Services Bill. Socialist party TD Ruth Coppinger claimed there were government TDs who would ‘privatise their own mother’.
The Water Services Bill passed by 81 votes to 58, with a provision that any future attempt at privatising Irish Water would have to go to a plebiscite of the people. Ms Coppinger said there were many people who wanted to see Irish Water in private hands, calling them ‘neo-liberal hawks’.
Opposition figures and some government backbenchers have expressed concern that Irish Water could go the way of Aer Lingus and find itself in private ownership. The government has attempted to assuage public concern about privatisation by promising a plebiscite, something which has not taken place in Ireland in living memory.