Rabbitte: Government remains committed to partial sale of ESB

Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has maintained that the Government remains committed to a partial sale of the ESB as part of a larger programme to dispose of state assets as required under the terms of the bailout.

Mr Rabbitte yesterday insisted there had been no change in the plan by the Government to sell off part of the state electricity company. It followed weekend media reports which cast doubt over plans for a partial sale of the ESB as senior civil servants had warned that it would not fetch a good price in the current economic climate.

His comments also come against a background of mixed messages from the troika and the Government over whether the proceeds from any such sale could be used toward job creation initiatives. The Government stressed that it has the agreement of the troika to use part of any monies obtained from the sale of state assets to be diverted into job creation measures. However, the EU-IMF-ECB team said it wanted to see the job creation plans first.

Mr Rabbitte said that the Government remained committed to the decision in principle to sell a minority stake in the ESB. “There’s been no change in the decision that was taken, subject to due diligence.”

The minister said such analysis had already been carried out by officials from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Mr Rabbitte said no fixed amount had been agreed on how much could be used for job creating programmes as the troika had acknowledged that it would counter-productive to compel the Government to sell any state assets given the current market conditions.

He said the Government already had to abandon plans to sell Irish Life.

Mr Rabbitte said it was impossible to fix a deadline for sale of state companies.

The minister said his view on the sale of companies like the ESB and Bord Gáis would be taken on a “case by case” basis.