Paying for water services: The referendum question

After almost a year of argument, inside the Dail and out, over the merits of a referendum on the public ownership of water, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar shut down the debate in the way only he can.

“I would like to prioritise referendums over the next number of years that actually make a difference and might actually change something,” he said last week. So no referendum then.

To a degree, his assessment makes sense. Without revenue from domestic water charges and without the accompanying credit rating to borrow independently, Irish Water is not an attractive candidate for privatisation.