David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister back to the House and I thank him for taking this debate. It is remarkable to hear a Labour Party Senator referring to ideological opponents to the sale of State assets. This shows how far the Labour Party has travelled down the path, as it is not long since that party was opposed to the sale of State assets.

Whatever way the Government tries to dress it up, selling State assets is a short-term measure with a long-term cost. Perhaps more than any other, this decision exposes the Government's lack of joined-up or long-term thinking. The projected sale value of the asset disposals will make little or no difference to the State's overall debt burden. Despite the Government's assertions to the contrary, privatisation is not the panacea of perfect competition. Fine Gael and the Labour Party have failed to produce evidence-based analysis to support their plans. We have been told that only non-strategic assets will be considered for sale by the State. How transport, forestry and energy assets can be deemed to be anything other than strategic is beyond me.

Retaining the State's significant 25% share in Aer Lingus is vital if we are to ensure Ireland's connectivity with Europe, the US and the rest of the world. Trading the airline's Heathrow slots would be inconsequential to a private company, yet their retention is of strategic importance to this island's interests.

Now more than ever, Coillte is an important rural employer. Selling its harvesting rights to a private company that will buy our forests is a barmy decision. The Minister asserts that we are only selling the trees, but those form the integral part of Coillte's asset. The Government should be working with Coillte to develop the significant potential of the forestry sector for timber production, biomass and eco-tourism.

Commercial semi-State companies have created tens of thousands of sustainable jobs, benefitting hundreds of thousands of families for decades. The ESB is self-financing and has contributed €4.3 billion to the economy through taxes and dividends in the past ten years. It and Bord Gáis together have paid €2 billion in dividends, twice what the Government intends to spend on its one-off jobs investment. The Government has other funding streams for a jobs stimulus, including the National Pensions Reserve Fund, NPRF, and possibly the European Investment Bank, EIB.