When the Rainbow government was in power, the "p" word was never mentioned. State companies could become involved in strategic alliances, they could sell off a large part of their equity and they could engage in partnership studies of their future. But, lest the sensitivities of Labour and Democratic Left be upset, nobody ever talked about "privatisation".
How things have changed. Under the current administration barely a week goes by but some other state enterprise is mooted as a candidate for sale or flotation. Like planes queueing up to take off, Cablelink, IFI, Telecom Eirean, Aer Rianta, Aer Lingus and even forestry company Coillte are all waiting their turn to leave the state sector. Mention a state company to Mary Harney and chances are she will say the state has no business in it and her Fianna Fail partners do not disagree.
Overall, the trend to move companies out from under the state's wing is a welcome one. But companies should not be sold for the sake of selling them. Practical good sense and not ideology must drive the future of the state sector.
Take Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta, for example. Aer Lingus has survived a few hard years and is now profitable, if not at an adequate level to fund its investment needs. It faces intense competition in most areas of its business which has forced it to transform itself. Strategic alliance with the British Airways/American Airlines (BA/AA) group seems an intelligent way forward. Whether or not BA/AA take a 10 per cent, Aer Lingus will still need substantial cash over the next five years, probably over £500 million, for fleet replacement and other investment.
So flotation on the stockmarket seems the best option for the company. And, crucially, for the State, the Government can be assured that strong competition in the market will ensure that the airline will have to remain efficient and offer reasonably priced access to and from Ireland - which has vital spin-off benefits for tourism and business.
Aer Rianta is a different story. It has operated as a monopoly and faces a serious threat from the ending of duty free for EU traffic. It is also embroiled in a serious row with Ryanair over landing charges and its policy in this area has implications for Aer Lingus in the long term too.
Before rushing to draw up the prospectus for Aer Rianta, the Government and the company need to decide the future environment in which it will operate. And the Government in particular must realise that as well as the need for it to run as a business, the operation of Aer Rianta has significant wider implications for access to and from Ireland.
Unlike Aer Lingus, Aer Rianta has no competitor snapping at its heels and the danger is that turning it from a state monopoly into a private monopoly will lead to these considerations being ignored.
To be fair, the company's report to Government does recommend an independent regulator be set up to oversee airport charges. But the Government must ensure that this is fully in place and also decide whether it wants to develop competing facilities - such as the one Tony Ryan is proposing for Baldonnel - before rushing to sell off Aer Rianta.
In the past the Civil Service has been slow to cede the regulatory function to a strong independent office which can act as a watchdog in the public interest on a monopolist or ensure fair play when a smaller competitor comes in to take on a previous monopolist in areas like telecoms.
Indeed, the favouritism written in to the draft electricity bill towards the ESB - which says that the regulator must approve its power plant construction plans while holding a veto over those of its competitors - shows how reluctant the system is to move to full competition.
In framing its policy the Government must first take account of the "c" word - competition and the needs of the wider public good before deciding how and when to privatise.
