Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

The ESB has a long and proud history and was one of the public organisations set up by the early Governments of the State to bring progress to the country. It has a history of providing high-end jobs, training and apprenticeships for our young people for generations. Most importantly, it continues to contribute to the economy to the tune of €2.2 billion in the last nine years. It continues to operate in an open and free market. Proving its resilience, it is one of the State's largest employers, employing over 7,000 workers. It is such an important State asset that it must be kept fully in State ownership.

Why is this happening? We know that Fine Gael is committed to the agenda of privatisation, but what has shocked people is that the Labour Party is not just supporting this decision, it is also, in fact, proposing it. It vocally opposed the sale of Aer Lingus. Deputy Tommy Broughan claimed in 2005 that the then Fianna Fáil Government's sale of a stake in Aer Lingus was "an unprecedented act of betrayal by the Taoiseach." This concern was equally shared by the current Minister for State, Deputy Róisín Shortall. On the other hand, Fine Gael was up front and honest. Its manifesto stated, "We will sell non-strategic assets such as Bord Gais, ESB Powergen, and ESB Customer Supply". Today the Labour Party is in roll-over mode, acquiescing to a policy of confusion being developed by the troika and lapped up by Fine Gael.

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