Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

In the case of both the ESB and Bord Gáis Éireann, the workforce holds shares so, with that in mind, I was curious to hear the Minister had not spoken to the trade unions. He might do that with some urgency because the employees will have a view on all of this.

The Minister repeatedly made a claim today that the sell-off of these assets is somehow a pathway to enhanced competitiveness and reduced prices. I am sure he is as aware as I am that the history of deregulation of the energy sector in this small island has never resulted in a dip in prices. In fact, we moved rather spectacularly from having very low energy prices to now having among the highest across Europe. It probably makes a good sound bite for the Minister in selling this fire sale but I do not think it is an argument he can substantiate.

The Minister said he will raise €3 billion. Notwithstanding giving us figures down to the cent, he must have some sense of the individual value of these assets. I put it to him that there is a reason these assets are attractive to put on the market and bidders will be interested in them. It is because they generate very significant revenue.

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