Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am very disappointed with the Minister's response. When it was first proposed that Bord Gáis Éireann would be sold off I predicted that the venture capitalists, or vulture capitalists as I called them at the time, would be swooping and looking for a basement bargain. I also pointed out that the privatisation of public utilities in the neighbouring island had been nothing short of disastrous and had resulted in poorer service and increased costs to consumers.

We need to remind ourselves why these companies were in public ownership in the first place. We need to put ourselves in the place of a board of directors or managers at Bord Gáis Éireann. How can any company engage in strategic or even short-term planning when the status of that company is uncertain? I am disappointed that the Minister has not said that the reasons it was set up as a public company in the first place are as valid today as they were then and that the door has been closed and locked on any privatisation of Bord Gáis Éireann.

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