Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said he agreed that the private investor, the successful bidder, had the right under certain conditions and terms to sell or flip the investment. It is making a modest investment of approximately €200 million and risking far less of its own funds, while it will recover all its initial investment by 2028. That is a very short timeline for an investment that earlier was likened to the investment in the ESB which was a 100-year investment. By 2028 the State will have committed approximately €2 billion. Does the Minister agree that this constitutes a massive transfer of public value from citizens to a small number of private interests?