No immediate sell-off of State assets should take place in order to raise money for the public finances, according to the report of the review group chaired by economist Colm McCarthy.
The McCarthy report, which was published today, says there should be a planned programme of asset sales to reduce the State’s high level of indebtedness.
However, it advises against a “fire-sale”, saying that it would be unlikely to raise enough capital and may not even be possible given the complex legislation in place.
"The Government isn’t under any immediate financial pressure, in the sense that the IMF-EU programme is in place, which means that the Government should be funded for the duration of that programme.” said Mr McCarthy. "Also, some of these companies couldn’t be sold off immediately. It is not practicable to think of disposing of many of these companies in a hurry."
"It’s not easy to point to companies that could be sold very rapidly. We haven’t really tried to get into the mechanics of the disposal of things. I would be surprised if any of these could be sold within the next calendar year. We’d be looking to next year and perhaps even longer."
The report recommends against selling off core assets in ESB and Bord Gáis in the immediate future saying that a decision on this should be deferred. It also advises against selling many land-based assets and instead proposes the State sell the rights to reap the produce of the land rather than the land itself.
The report calls for the restructuring of State companies and stronger regulatory arrangements ahead of any possible sale. It also suggests that competitiveness be enhanced even in companies that are not sold.
It recommends the privatisation of all or part of Dublin Bus, but only after the Government decides on a model for competition in the bus market. It also suggests the Government sell its 25 per cent share in Aer Lingus when such a move is practical.
The report refrains from putting valuations on individual state assets, saying this depends ultimately on what any buyer would be prepared to spend.
It says the net asset value of commercial State assets whose disposal is recommended is about €5 billion.
The report proposes that intangible rights such as licences and leases be sold-off to the highest bidder.
Among the many State assets reviewed by the McCarthy group were CIE, RTÉ, An Post, Bord Gáis, ESB, Coillte, Bord Na Móna and the Irish Aviation Authority.
The Government has already said it intends to retain Bord na Mona and Coillte and to merge them into a new company.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said this week there are no plans in relation to the sale of the State’s three main airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon.
However, the Programme for Government commits the Government to sell up to €2 billion in State assets to fund schemes to improve economic growth.
The political difficulty it faces is that the programme agreed with the IMF and EU lays down as a condition that any money raised from the sale of assets must be used to pay down the national debt.
Labour Ministers are less keen than their Fine Gael colleagues about any large-scale divestment of State assets to the private sector.
Speaking this afternoon Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin denied that the report gave the go-ahead for the Government to “sell off the family silver.”
Mr Howlin ruled out any sudden sale of state-controlled companies and said privatisation would only occur when market conditions improve.
“As set out in the Programme for Government, non-strategic assets up to a value of €2 billion euro will only be sold when market conditions are right and when adequate regulatory structures have been established to protect consumer interests,” he said.
"At the moment with the way the market is this doesn't seem to be a very viable proposition," he said.
