Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----regardless of what members over there might say today, will not come out of the darkness, do a u-turn and decide it appropriate that this utility be privatised in order to achieve a particular advantage. To my mind, provision is already sufficiently interposed in the legislation to ensure the protection of the institution as a public entity for the foreseeable future. It should be acknowledged that the public could change its mind some time in the future. I hope that it does not from the point of view of what is being said in this House now. I believe there is a need to ensure that into the future there is a sufficient degree of consultation with the public prior to the making of any major policy change in this area. I say that having been one of the people who strongly opposed the privatisation of the telecoms system in this country years ago. All kinds of arguments were put forward at the time. They were all wrong and did not stand up in the event. I hope we have learned from all those experiences and that as a result we have now come up with the ultimate in terms of foolproof legislation that will ensure that what we set out to do will be done and is safeguarded as such.

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