Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Independents 4 Change for giving me the time to speak.

As the Minister and anyone here in the House is probably aware, the greatest mistake that ever was made was the sale of Eircom because since then, no matter what Minister is in power, it has put us on the back foot. It is probably one of the costliest mistakes this country has ever made and we probably will continue to regret it.

Along with that, from what I understand, we are coupled with EU rules on how we conduct procurement. Basically, the State cannot have ownership of different assets which is playing havoc, not only in this country but in other parts of Europe.

Since the privatisation of Telecom Éireann, we have relied on other private operators to provide services. My background is in the private sector. The ESB is a great company. When anything goes wrong, it is out there and able to solve the problem. Such services may not make money for a government or the company involved but they create the environment and the opportunity for people to be able to go to work and pay taxes, which in turn may pay for the few quid that would be lost.

I know the Minister has sent around a document, and I thank him for honouring what he said last night in getting a person to talk to me. The first thing that needs to be done, and I ask the Minister to arrange this, is a meeting between him and his officials and Senators and others in the likes of the audiovisual room to bring them up to speed on the exact problems and some of the obstacles and where we are and where we intend to be. In fairness to the officials, their insight is very helpful to people. It would be very easy for me, being in the same constituency as the Minister, to stand here and, on Facebook later, have a right go at him but I will not do so because one vision we must have-----

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