Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I am pleased to report that the State asset disposal programme has made significant progress since I announced its content last February. The respective inter-departmental steering groups established at that time to prepare the assets for disposal have examined comprehensive financial reports by NewERA on Bord Gáis Energy, BGE, and Coillte and work is also proceeding on identifying the electricity generation assets of ESB to be included in the sale programme.

Under the EU-ECB-IMF funding programme, the Government remains committed to outlining in detail for the troika, by the end of this month, the specific regulatory, legislative, corporate governance and financial reforms that need to be taken in 2012 to allow for the State asset disposal programme to proceed in 2013. A calendar with indicative timelines for sales will be set out. The issues requiring resolution having already been identified by the end of the first quarter and we published that in the report of the last troika visit. Work is continuing now in the relevant Departments and agencies on considering how they should be addressed in order to facilitate the launch of sale transactions in 2013.

With regard to the second part of the Deputy's question on job losses, the inter-departmental steering groups mentioned earlier are charged, inter alia, with identifying any implications for employment that arise from the asset sales in question. I do not necessarily accept the implication in the Deputy's question that job losses will be inevitable. Part of the receipts from the sale of assets will be retained for reinvestment. The sale of certain business units of State companies may offer the prospect of access to significant new capital to grow these businesses, which might not otherwise be available given the current position in capital markets. The BGE sale and the proposed divestment of some of the ESB's non-strategic power generation assets also presents an opportunity to achieve wider economic benefits by introducing new players into the Irish market, thereby leading to increased competition, which should, hopefully, increase efficiency, drive down costs and lead to reduced prices to consumers and businesses.

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