Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

As I have stated on a number of occasions, there is no question of the Government surrendering control of either of the companies to which the Deputy refers. The Deputy referred to adhering to targets, meeting the bottom line and substituting one thing with another. This trade-off is taking place on the revenue side, for example, in reversing the previous Government's decision on the minimum wage, we had to modernise the joint labour committees. However, the troika has not at any stage indicated an intention to let us off the hook on the commitment to dispose of State assets set out in the original memorandum of understanding.

While I sincerely hope the quantum is open to negotiation, the divvy-up between what we put into an envelope to send to Frankfurt and what we can use for reinvestment purposes for job creation in the indigenous economy is as important. I hope this matter will also be up for negotiation. I know the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, have been engaged in that very process. As Deputy Ó Cuív stated, this may well be a dynamic that unfolds over a period. I have already given him a fairly frank answer to the original question he asked. However, the ideology, if that is what the Deputy calls it, that drives troika thinking appears to be, as in the case of Greece, that if it is to fund a programme of support for the administration of the State, it expects us to make a contribution in the form of the disposal of some State assets. I hope the quantum, as well as the destination of the proceeds, is negotiable but, as far as I am aware - we will hear what the two relevant Ministers have to say tomorrow - there is no sign that the troika has relented on the principle of the State making a contribution through the disposal of some State assets. While I wish it were not so, that is the position.

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