Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 8, lines 19 to 22, to delete all words from and including “Subject” in line 19 down to and including line 22 and substitute the following:“Subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), a local authority chief executive may not sell, transfer, exchange, surrender or otherwise dispose of any shares vested in the local authority of which he or she is the chief executive by order made under section 8.”.

This is a straightforward amendment to remove the power and right of the chief executive officer of the local authority to sell shares in the newly transferred company. It is an anti-privatisation amendment.

It is an anti-privatisation amendment which arises from a concern that, if the corporate subsidiary model prevails, the borrowing of money by a semi-State entity, or off balance sheet financing as it is known, will lead to the divestment of shares and, ultimately, a process of creeping privatisation where, in order to finance anything, one will have to sell shares. We will be on a slippery slope.

At a local level there is evidence that the process is beginning to get under way. Certain sites and physical parts of the harbour are being put up for sale. I fear that if the harbour is pushed in this commercially focused and oriented direction, rather than being seen primarily as a public amenity, the pressure will be on to sell shares to finance projects within the harbour. This is the direction in which I think it will go, but, with this amendment, I am trying to preclude that possibility. These are vital pieces of infrastructure and amenities and we should not be considering their sale.

See this speech in context