Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

The context of the Deputy's question is the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, governing the EU-IMF Funding Programme for Ireland, which commits the Government to considering options for the ambitious programme of asset disposal, based on the programme for Government and the report of the review group on state assets and liabilities.

In our discussions, the troika emphasised that it views asset disposal as a structural reform measure intended to improve efficiency and competition in the economy, while offering the prospect of reducing overall debt levels. While it is anxious that the Government's programme of asset disposal should be ambitious, it has not imposed any particular target for proceeds from the sale of State assets on us.

It has signalled that it would be prepared to agree to the retention of a sizeable amount of proceeds from asset disposal for investment by Government in job creation initiatives as I have indicated previously.

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