The Government has made no decision on selling its share in Aer Lingus, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said.
Speaking in the Dáil this morning, he also said no decision had been made about the percentage of the ESB shareholding to be sold.
“What the Government has done is that it has looked at the requirement and necessity for the sale of some State assets in order to deal with the financial circumstances that the country has been put in,” he added.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar last week indicated that Aer Lingus was on a list of State assets that could be sold.
Mr Gilmore said the Government wanted to raise money for investment in job creation. The ESB would not be broken up, he said. “It will be retained as a single entity in the national interest," Mr Gilmore added.
The Tánaiste was replying to Fianna Fáil deputy leader Eamon Ó Cuív, who said that going down the route of selling off parts of State companies was "going down the inexorable route of the total privatisation in time".
Mr Ó Cuív said the sale of even 25 per cent of the ESB would change the whole nature of the company, from being one operating in the national interest to one operating in the narrow interest of the financial return to shareholders.
Speaking in Cork today, Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton said the sale of State assets would be undertaken with the interests of the Irish people at its heart. “I'm confident that process will produce a good result for the country and I think people will see the merit of it as it develops,” he said.
Mr Bruton said the Government has taken a “prudent” decision which make sure the interests of the State are protected. “Mistakes that may have been made in the past in respect of the sale of assets won't occur again and I'm confident in that process and workers in the ESB can be confident in that process,” he said.
"I think total privatisation of a company like the ESB would raise really serious strategic issues for the country,” he said. “We know the importance of retaining ownership of networks that are vital infrastructure and that has informed the government's decision to sell only a minority stake because these are critical infrastructures that a state needs to ensure are up to the standard that a modern developing economy needs."
