Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael)

There was no equivocation about that. I ask the Senator not to change that circumstance, which was quite clear. The result achieved by the Government means that some money will be used to pay off debt and the rest of it will be used for job creation. Everybody in this Chamber and the other Chamber agrees that the Government achieved a good result which will benefit unemployed people by helping them to get back into the workplace. That is the core objective of the Government. I accept that some people have a political ideology which dictates that assets should never be sold. If that ideology were adopted in all instances, we would continue to own the routes that coaches used to take many years ago. Those are the legacies we have. We have to advance with them, like everything else. It is interesting that at one stage in the past, we were told we should not lose the shipping lines we had. As the aviation sector grew, fares decreased and new companies came to the market. That shows how circumstances can change.

The funds that will accrue to us from the sale of State assets should be reinvested in other assets that will increase in value over time. As time moves on, those assets will become outdated like the former assets I mentioned. I remind the House that the ESB sold six generators in 2005 and 2006. One of them - Great Island power station - is in the constituency shared by the Minister and me. It was purchased by Endesa Ireland, which invested €300 million in it. In the next few weeks, some 450 people will start working on a massive construction project at the power station. It will be one of the biggest construction projects in the State. The Bord Gáis gas pipeline which is being advanced from Kilkenny will serve two major towns in County Wexford, which formerly had no gas. That demonstrates the benefit of selling assets. There was no furore when the Great Island facility was sold.