Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

None of us wants to see the sale of State assets, but that is the legacy of the agreement Fianna Fáil reached with the troika when we were bailed out on its watch in November 2010. I listened carefully last night to the comments of Sinn Féin Deputies, especially those that concerned my party. I commend them on the conformity of their speeches. The scriptwriters were excellent. The approach has continued in today's contributions. However, they neglected some key facts and I wish to focus on two particular points in my contribution, namely, the sale of State assets, and investment of the money raised in jobs, and the importance of keeping the network in public ownership.

As Deputy Finian McGrath said last night – the dominant debate in the country is about jobs, jobs, jobs. This sale will provide a windfall that will enable us to invest in jobs. As has already been stated by the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, it is important to put on record that while the troika expects us to raise €5 billion from the sale of State assets to pay down debt, that figure was reduced to €3 billion by the Government. It was pointed out on many occasions by Fianna Fáil that the sum could not be reduced through negotiation. Through further negotiations with the troika it was then agreed that half of the money raised would go towards investment in the economy, which would create jobs and build the infrastructure we need to encourage future growth. That was a significant political achievement by the Labour Party and Fine Gael in government, as the assets were originally to be privatised to pay down debt as the price of the bailout. It was then agreed early last year that half of the money raised would in the long term go towards retiring debt but in the short term the potential €1.5 billion would be put into a fund to support lending in the economy to assist SMEs and job creation. Projects that will benefit from such funding include a new campus for DIT at Grangegorman in Deputy McDonald’s constituency. I repeat again, none of us want to see the sale of State assets, but that has been the cost of the bailout that has paid for vital public services and supports. The fact that the proceeds can be ploughed into job creation in the economy is important.

One of the reasons I can agree to this sale is that the State will retain the most important part of Bord Gáis Energy, namely, its gas pipeline transmission network. The book value of property, plant and equipment at the end of 2009 in Bord Gáis was €3.5 billion. A total of €2.5 billion of that was attributable to the gas pipeline according to Colm McCarthy’s report on State assets. That means more than 70% of the State assets in Bord Gáis would remain in State ownership and we would have €1 billion to invest in jobs. When the Minister responds to the debate, could he confirm the up-to-date position on the value of assets in Bord Gáis that will remain in public ownership?

If we learned anything from the disastrous privatisation of Telecom Éireann where both the customer side and the network were sold, it is that the transmission networks – a natural monopoly - should remain in public ownership. That would guarantee that the Government would have the power to maintain and invest in supply networks to improve competitiveness and contribute to growth. That is critical for long-term economic growth. The failure of the privatisation of Eircom to develop a national broadband network is a lesson we have learnt the hard way.

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