Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

We all know we had a privatisation which went very badly wrong, namely, the privatisation of Eircom. Not only has it been sold and resold, but the major disadvantage was the loss of the ability to roll out broadband. We have lagged behind and it has been a serious disadvantage in terms of developing the country.

When we met the troika it told us it would not force the country into a fire sale. The Government said, in its most recent announcement, that it is not what it intends to do, but is very difficult to see how that can happen in the context of the economic environment not just in this country, but across Europe.

There was a very good idea in the Labour Party manifesto, namely forestry. It stated:

Labour recognises the importance of forestry as a source of employment, a source of renewable energy and a public amenity and a means of reducing the national carbon footprint. Labour opposes privatisation of Coillte and the sale of publicly owned forests. Labour will set a planting target of 10,000 ha per annum and will work with stakeholders to agree a sustainable funding model to achieve this aim.

It is an awful pity that vision was abandoned. The sale of the proceeds of Coillte land will happen. It is not a case of planting land this year and selling a crop. It takes decades for trees to mature. I have serious concerns that we are selling assets like Coillte just to get to the bottom line rather than for any good, solid reason.

See this speech in context