An expert witness to an Oireachtas committee who chose to give evidence in Irish was forced to use English when it was discovered that the translation system was not in operation.
Séamus Ó Tuathail SC appeared before the special Committee on the Future of Water Services. He has given legal advice to the Right 2 Water campaign that an amendment to the Constitution was necessary to ensure that water services were not transferred from public ownership into the future.
Mr Ó Tuathail started reading his submission in Irish but was stopped by committee chairman Pádraig Ó Céidigh, who said the simultaneous translation service was not working because of a technical issue. Translating staff were present. Mr Ó Céidigh, himself a native speaker, apologised and asked Mr Ó Tuathail would he mind making his submission in English.
Mr Ó Tuathail said he would make his contribution in English but only under protest.
The committee of 20 TDs and Senators is examining how water services can be financed in future and if a constitutional amendment is needed to keep water services in public ownership.
Mr Ó Tuathail said the Government should proceed with the wording of the proposed constitutional amendment brought to the Dáil by Independent TD Joan Collins.
He said the Minister reserved the right to amend the wording of that amendment and might have proposals which could amount to a “watering down” of it.
Irish Water shares
Mr Ó Tuathaill said the Water Services Acts of 2013 and 2014 had provided for the non-alienation of shares in Irish Water from public ownership, and introduced a requirement for a plebiscite to be held if it was proposed to remove Irish Water from public ownership.
He pointed out the 2014 Act included a provision whereby those two preventative measures “could be undone by a future Act”.
“The concern of the Right 2 Water people is that the privatisation of what are now public water supplies could proceed at some future time,” he said.
Maria Graham, a senior official in the Department of Housing and Local Government, outlined the existing legislative protections in place.
“In my experience, having worked in this area for a number of years, the strong policy intent has always been to maintain public water services in public ownership,” she said.
The committee heard it was unusual for a State structure to be protected by the Constitution specifically. “Existing legislation, therefore, already provides a statutory prohibition on the privatisation of Irish Water and sets out a range of steps that would need to be taken in the event that the statutory prohibition involved was to be removed.”
Turning to the proposed constitutional amendment, she said there were “wording challenges” and that the “risk of unintended consequences” also needed to be examined. Ms Graham agreed with a number of questions put by Paul Murphy (AAA-PBP) that the existing legislative protections, including non-alienation of shares and a plebiscite, could be reversed by a “simple majority of the Dáil”.
