Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

I had hoped to start by commending the Government on its handling of Private Members' business last night, because I thought it would set a precedent for a more co-operative way forward. Unfortunately, that promise was dashed this morning by the expulsion of Deputy Doherty for the crime of asking a question of great public interest and concern.

The question here is not just about whether it is wise or unwise to privatise our State assets. It is also a question of the use to which the proceeds of any such sale are to be put. The Government has claimed that it will raise up to €1 billion to support job creation sometime in the future from the sale of State assets. It is ironic that the same Government will hand over €3.1 billion to unsecured bondholders at the end of the month.

In these hard economic times, the Taoiseach and his Ministers should be eagerly searching for opportunities to improve our job creation structures. However, the Government is doing the exact opposite. It is selling off State assets paid for by the taxpayer, putting people's jobs at risk, and taking a gamble on how much the sale of those assets will make. I predict that the only people who will benefit from the sale of our taxpayer-funded assets are already very wealthy people and institutions whose sole motivation is profit.

It is a pity the Government does not look towards Scandinavia to see examples of where real profitable State companies create employment and generate growth. Sweden has those examples, where the right investment and encouragement breathe life into that nation's economy. Just like Thatcher and Reagan, this Government is hell bent on ridding this country of Keynesian economic policy. There is no clearer example of this than the Government's unwavering support for the austerity treaty in the forthcoming referendum.

I hope I do not sound arrogant when I say the Taoiseach, the Government and our negotiators are suffering from a very simple but profound misunderstanding. They seem to regard the troika as a friend and partner of the Irish nation, but the troika is no friend of the Irish family. No friend would force a family to pay for debt it did not owe. No friend would force family members to emigrate to seek a living. No family friend would leave that family without hope. The troika is no friend if it insists on Irish family impoverishment to safeguard European banks.

The Taoiseach is right. We will not be bribed, but the Taoiseach, the Government and our negotiators should insist that the blackmail stops now.

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