MINISTER FOR Communications Eamon Ryan has firmly opposed the privatisation of State assets that are “delivering”, including the ESB, Bord Gáis and An Post.
“I don’t think it does make sense in relation to the likes of ESB and Bord Gáis to disrupt what’s working well,” the Minister said last night.
While he would discuss the matter with the assets review group appointed last week by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, Mr Ryan said his arguments “should and will prevail”.
The review group, chaired by economist Colm McCarthy, is charged with looking at the possibility of disposing of public-sector assets, including commercial State companies.
Asked if the privatisation would be an issue that would result in the Greens walking from Government, he said “I think I’m in the right and I have good reason on my side”.
He added that “we have to be careful” not to damage “or change institutions that are delivering”.
The Minister was speaking to The Irish Timesbefore he formally opened a new An Post museum at the GPO in Dublin.
At the launch he told about 100 guests that An Post “can and will thrive as a publicly owned institution”.
He said that with new EU directives “we’re going to have to . . . open up our postal system to more competition. I think that’s very healthy.”
The three-man Review Group on State Assets, whose members comprise Mr McCarthy, senior Department of Finance official Donal McNally and TCD’s Prof Alan Matthews, is expected to look at all major State companies as the Government attempts to cut the €84 billion national debt.
Those companies include ESB, Bord Gáis, RTÉ, Iarnród Éireann, Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports, (all owned by Dublin Airport Authority) 10 port companies Bord na Móna and RTÉ.
Announcing the establishment of the review group last week Mr Lenihan said its initial focus would be commercial State companies.
The group would also look at other assets, such as the radio spectrum, used to carry mobile phone and TV signals, and mining and exploration licences.
Mr Ryan had previously indicated he saw no reason to change the status quo, but last night he went further and said firmly it would be “disruptive and damaging to the country’s interests” to sell off assets such as the ESB and Bord Gáis which were working well, competitive and delivering.
He acknowledged that he held firmly to the view that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. He stressed that “we shouldn’t be ideological. I don’t believe in this private sector good, public sector bad view.
“There are people working very hard in both sectors and there are companies good and bad in both sectors.”
He said it should be approached “on what’s actually going to work for the wider economy as well as for the interests of a particular company”.
