Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

In July the Minister stated that he was committed to selling State assets and, more importantly, the agreement signed in the past few weeks commits the Government to an ambitious programme of State asset disposal designed to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of the economy, reduce sovereign financing needs and provide additional resources for investment. Instead of claiming credit for getting an agreement on investing one third of the money in employment creation, he should admit that he lost the battle because the majority of money raised from this process will be used to pay down the debt. This was not in the original agreement.

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