Labour has reportedly decided to include a referendum on the public ownership of water in their manifesto.

The Green Party welcomed the decision, however leader Eamon Ryan said it may be just an "election promise" which will not lead to any change.

Mr Ryan claims Labour had "ample opportunity" to lay the foundations over the last five years on the future ownership of Irish Water.

Mr Ryan said: "Not only did they fail to do so, they actively opposed calls for such a referendum, claiming it was unnecessary. Labour’s position has suddenly changed but the real question is what implications this has for the future for Irish Water.

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"We now need to know whether Fine Gael are also willing to change their position. They need to admit that they got the establishment of Irish Water wrong. They can then revert to the more sensible approach that the Green Party set out over five years ago which committed to the establishment of a non-commercial state authority to manage our water system, a free basic water allowance for every individual and a referendum to recognise that there is a right to the public ownership of our most precious natural resource."

(CD/MH)