Water is a vital public utility not a private commodity for flush bankers

Water is the new oil. Mega-banks such as Goldman Sachs, CitiGroup and JP Morgan are buying up water resources, engineering infrastructure and water rights worldwide.

They know that, as water becomes more scarce with climate change and population growth, there are vast profits to be made. In addition, the lucrative potential of Big Data means Irish Water, as an asset, is far more valuable with PPS numbers attached than without. Not just water, but our identities are being commercialised without our consent.

Water is provided for free by nature and access to clean water and sanitation is recognized by the United Nations as essential to the realisation of all human rights. The privatisation of water transgresses all notions of natural justice and threatens ordinary citizens with withdrawal of a life-giving resource that nobody should ever have to live in fear of losing.