Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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610. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total number of State assets sold since 2011; the use of the proceeds of these sales; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13160/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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To date, the Exchequer has received nearly €1.5 billion in cash arising from the State Assets Disposal Programme and the sale of the National Lottery licence, comprising:

- €400m from ESB, generated from the sale of its 50% shareholdings in two overseas assets in the UK and Spain and from a realisation for the Government of the value of ESB's two midlands peat plants;

- €335m in respect of Aer Lingus, arising from its acquisition by IAG;

- €350m from Ervia, in respect of the sale of Bord Gais Energy; and

- €400m from sale of the National Lottery Licence.

When all of the remaining proceeds from the sale of Bord Gais Energy have been received, the final total from all of these State asset disposals is expected to be about €2.1 billion.

Since the State Asset Disposal Programme was agreed by Government, a number of significant announcements have been made of allocations of additional funding for capital investment to be funded from proceeds of the asset disposals.  Details of these investment programmes are on my Department's website, and further detail about individual projects and programmes is available from the relevant Ministers and their Departments.  However, in summary:

- In July 2012, in its first infrastructure stimulus plan involving a total investment of €2¼ billion, the Government announced that on foot of the State Assets Disposal Programme, it would undertake further Exchequer investment including enabling works to support the PPP projects.  Almost €100m was made available for enabling works on the roads and education PPPs.

- In June 2013, the Government allocated €150m additional Exchequer investment to schools, energy efficiency and roads projects;

- At Budget 2014, the Government announced that along with the €200m already committed to the National Children's Hospital, some €200mwould be invested from the proceeds of the Lottery Licence transaction and used for a range of projects and programmes; 

- In May 2014, the Government allocated a further €200m of investment for a range of capital projects in a number of different sectors and regions across the country. 

- At Budget 2015, the Government announced that €400m of the proceeds to be received from the sale of Bord Gais Energy would be made available to support the Government's Social Housing Strategy.  The Department of Housing has been working on proposals to utilise this funding.

- In 2015, the Government allocated the €335mproceeds from the sale of its shareholding in Aer Lingus to establish a Connectivity Fund, to support commercial projects that enhance connectivity both within and for the State.  The Connectivity Fund was established as a sub-Fund of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and is being managed by that Fund.

In total, the Government has, to date, allocated over €1.5 billion from the proceeds of the State Assets Disposal Programme and the sale of the National Lottery licence to support jobs and economic development across the country.  On this basis, it is clear that very substantial benefits for the public have been realised from this initiative.