Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)

I move:

"That Dáil Éireann:

— accepts that the Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities, chaired by Mr. Colm

McCarthy, did not provide adequate analysis or evidence to support its recommendations to privatise State owned assets and enterprises;

— recognises that the sale of strategic successful self-financing commercial semi-State

assets is not in the public interest;

— further recognises that Bord Gáis and the ESB have invested heavily in first world energy infrastructure across the island of Ireland, having the effect of safeguarding the State's energy security, creating tens of thousands of sustainable jobs and benefitting hundreds of thousands of families over the decades;

— agrees that retaining the State's 25% share in Aer Lingus is vital to ensure Ireland's connectivity to Europe, the US, and the rest of the world, and that guaranteeing the future of the airline's Heathrow slots by this retention is of strategic importance; — further agrees that Coillte is an important rural employer, particularly at the current time, and that the sale of the company's harvesting rights and any failure by the State and the company to develop the massive potential of the forestry sector for timber production, biomass and eco-tourism will be detrimental to the public interest;

— accepts that using the proceeds from the sale of State assets for bank debt reduction will not relieve the State's national debt;

— further accepts that the sale of State assets is a short-term measure that will have detrimental long-term economic, social and environmental costs;

— notes the potential economic, social and environmental benefits of commercial semi-State companies have not yet been fully realised;

— further notes the avoidable damage to the economy and disruption in services for consumers arising from industrial unrest resultant solely from the unnecessary sale of strategic State assets;

— mandates the Government to replace NewERA with a Semi-State Strategy Group to include chief executive officers from each of the commercial semi-State companies, with responsibility for delivering a strategic job creation and training project, working directly with the Ministers for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton and Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn and reporting directly to the Taoiseach and the Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education;

— instructs that all annual dividends paid to the State by commercial semi-State companies must be reinvested into employment activation and training measures as identified by the Semi-State Strategy Group and approved by the Taoiseach, reporting to the Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education; and

— rejects the Government's decision to sell State assets."

I propose to share time with Deputies Stanley, Crowe, Ó Caoláin, Colreavy and Ellis. As the text of our motion states, we do not accept that the proposed sale of State assets announced last week by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, is in the public interest, nor do we accept that selling off such assets in order to pay off the bank debt is justifiable. Apart from the fact that it involves selling off part of public companies that have been built over many decades, it represents a waste of that money, given that it will mainly be used not for any productive purpose but to pay off the gambling debts of people to whom we owe nothing or, rather, to whom we ought to owe nothing and would owe nothing had those massive debts not been foolishly taken on as part of the State's sovereign debt.

The fact that the vast bulk of the proceeds of the asset sales will go to pay that debt also exposes the spin that has been coming from the Government benches during and since the election. We were assured by one of the parties opposite during that election that there would be no sell-off of State assets at all. In fairness, Fine Gael said privatisation would be on the cards but denied it would be part of addressing the bank debt problem.

In the programme for Government, Labour swallowed its pride, not for the first time, and accepted a commitment to selling off €2 billion in value of State assets. We were assured that no strategic assets would be sold off and that all of the proceeds would go towards job creation through public investment. We now realise how much those commitments were worth. Some of those opposite who are now Labour Party Ministers had even spoken about Bord Gáis as the jewel in the crown of the State sector. Seemingly, that jewel is to be broken apart, with the shiniest part sold to privateers who will have the privilege of selling gas and electricity to the consumer without having any responsibility for the gas or electricity networks.

After the massive investment in Bord Gáis, companies that had no part of that will be able to come in and cherry pick the most profitable parts but leave the State with responsibility for the supply side. Someone likened this to a person arriving to a market gardener and offering him or her the price of the seeds planted months before in return for being able to sell the ripe produce at full price. Surely only a fool would agree to such a bargain and yet that is exactly what this Government is proposing to do. Perhaps that is worth the pat on the head it received yesterday from the IMF, which specifically referred to the proposed sell-off.

However, it is also clear that while the IMF has promoted privatisation in other states where it has intervened, including Greece, where it insisted on a higher target for asset sales than originally agreed, there is ideological support for privatisation within the Government. That was already clear from the Fine Gael manifesto and that party is happy to go along with the similarly ideologically motivated agenda driven by Mr. Colm McCarthy who, despite having been commissioned by the former Government, has seen his report by and large accepted by the current Government.

While Fine Gael is consistent in this, it raises enormous questions regarding the Labour Party and its long-standing alleged commitment to the public sector. There was universal condemnation last week of the proposed sell-off by the trade union movement. Jack O'Connor of SIPTU described it as a tragedy for the Labour Party. I am sure he will excuse some of us for not feeling that is the worse aspect of it. More than that, it is going to be a tragedy for the country.

I trust also, that in the light of the Labour Party's betrayal of one of its alleged core principles - there cannot be many left now other than self-preservation - that we will not have the new or old Liberty Hall festooned for the next election with Labour Party election propaganda, or the pages of Liberty given over to the promotion Labour Party candidates.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of the announcement last week by the Minister, Deputy Howlin, was the huge about-turn on the scale of the sale of State assets and the use of the proceeds of such a sale. A target of €2 billion was setin the programme for Government with a commitment to use it to finance a public jobs creation programme including the establishment of NewERA, the merger of Bord na Móna and Coillte. Now we have been informed that the target has increased to €3 billion and that only one third will go towards the promised public investment programme and €2 billion towards the payment of bank debt. It is a climb-down, to say the least.

Both parties have reneged on their firm commitment before, during and after the election last year not to sell off any part of the State forestry agency, Coillte . Now they have decided to sell as yet unspecified parts of Coillte although we were assured last week this will not include the land under Coillte's control. Given that we were previously told that no part of Coillte would be sold off, we may be pardoned for taking that with a grain of salt. Suffice it to say, selling the Coillte forestry or land would be a betrayal of a valuable national asset, albeit one that, in common with other natural resources, has been underdeveloped over the history of this State.

If the State harvests the crop, no grants are available for the State to reinvest. If forestry is sold to developers or outside interests, what happens the land afterwards? Do they take it for a term or continue to replant it? These questions must be answered. I highlight the clear interest of several major corporations in acquiring Coillte in whole or in part. Central to that was the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, in his new role as chairperson of the International Forestry Fund and its relationship to Helvetia Wealth, which expressed an interest in Coillte. Mr. Ahern also visited China in that connection so perhaps, in responding, the Minister might indicate whether the sale of Coillte forestry or assets arose in discussions with members of the Chinese delegation that visited this country two weeks ago.

We know that the Chinese Investment Corporation had expressed an interest in acquiring Coillte assets. It would be interesting to know whether, when having time off from visiting castles and Croke Park, members of the delegation discussed with Irish officials the possible acquisition of the State assets the Government is planning to sell. Were the Chinese made aware of this and will the Minister indicate what discussions took place regarding the sale of State assets? It would surely be ironic if Irish State assets were to be sold to the Chinese state so I await the Minister's response with interest.

I urge Labour Party Members who are clearly dissatisfied with Government policy on this issue to vote in favour of the motion. Despite their pessimistic outlook on the decline in and composition of the working class support, there must surely be some left who expect Labour not to go along with the sale of the crown jewels. For Labour Party backbenchers to vote against this motion is a betrayal of workers in State companies, who had been promised so fervently in the past by current Labour Ministers and the Labour Party.

See this speech in context