Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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110. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans for the use of proceeds from the sale of Aer Lingus. [23550/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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It has been the consistent policy of the Government that proceeds received from the sale of assets should, to the greatest extent possible, be used to support and sustain economic recovery and employment creation.  Under Eurostat rules, the proceeds arising from the sale of the State's shares in Aer Lingus, representing the sale of a financial asset, will have no beneficial impact on Ireland's General Government Balance (GGB), and so will not provide any capacity for additional Government expenditure on a GGB neutral basis.

For this reason the Government has decided to allocate the proceeds to a special fund - the Connectivity fund - which will operate on a commercial basis and therefore not constitute Government expenditure, but will facilitate the re-use of the proceeds for productive purposes within the economy on a GGB neutral basis. 

The establishment of the new connectivity fund from the potential sale proceeds will be managed on a commercial basis by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The Fund will be structured as a sub-portfolio of the ISIF, and will be managed and controlled in the same way as the main portfolio is managed. 

Given that the proceeds came from the sale of the State's stake in a transport asset, the fund will be dedicated to enhancing connectivity both within and for the State. It will allow for much needed investment in a range of commercially viable connectivity projects, both domestic and international. The projects will generate economic impact and competitiveness benefits for Ireland through enhancing our regional connectivity, improving attractiveness and competitiveness in the tourism sector, and promoting investment and enhanced opportunities for growth.  For the purposes of the Fund, 'connectivity' will be broadly defined.  Therefore, connectivity will be taken to include traditional transport type projects, such as ports and airports, and access to such assets.  However, it will also take a wider definition of connectivity to include, for example, data connectivity (including broadband, fibre optic cables, interconnectors, etc) and energy connectivity (including energy inter-connectors and other related projects).