State Assets: Ensuring effective privatization
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011The Government should “just focus on ESB,” investment analyst Nigel Hawkins tells Meadhbh Monahan. An advocate of privatisation, the Adam Smith Institute’s Nigel Hawkins tells eolas that, in considering the sale of state assets, the Government should make sure it gets ESB “right” because it could generate up to €8 billion. The other assets identified in the McCarthy report only have the potential to generate millions. The McCarthy report recognised that out of its 55 recommendations, the proposal to sell ESB’s electricity distribution businesses, generation assets, international...[full story]
State Assets: State-owned enterprise at a crossroads
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011New Era must be implemented in a coherent way that ensures the sustainability of the Irish economy according to University of Limerick economists Donal Palcic and Eoin Reeves. The future of public enterprise and the question of privatisation have become hot topics in the past few months. A number of recent government announcements have confirmed that the sale of shares in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will form part of the response to the current fiscal crisis. At the time of writing the troika have arrived in Dublin for one of their periodic reviews of how Ireland is performing vis-à-vis...[full story]
State Assets: Selling state assets – some key issues
Monday, November 7th, 2011It is probably fair to say that the Irish experience of selling State owned companies has not always been a happy one. From the sale of Greencore in 1991, through the sale of Eircom in 1999, right up to the most recent major sale, the listing of Aer Lingus in 2006, many of these transactions have attracted some degree of controversy. This is not surprising due to the policy and political issues inherent in any decision to sell State assets, coupled with the normal commercial tensions between a buyer and a seller. The political and economic backdrop to the current proposals for the sale...[full story]
Cover story: John Barry – a strategic future for gas
Monday, November 7th, 2011Head of Bord Gáis Networks John Barry talks to Owen McQuade about the importance of natural gas for Ireland’s energy mix and how he anticipates a strong future for the fuel. Natural gas is an important fuel in Ireland and will remain so for the “foreseeable future”, John Barry contends. The Head of Bord Gáis Networks notes that the country currently generates about 60 per cent of its electricity from gas and emphasises that a secure supply (including via interconnectors) will be important to back up the renewable energy sector. “As more renewables come on stream, clearly that...[full story]
Business: Media ownership laws
Friday, August 19th, 2011The attempt by News Corp to purchase the remainder of BSkyB and phone hacking revelations in Britain have revived debate about media ownership. Stephen Dineen outlines the situation in Ireland. The Government is set to review the media ownerships laws. The recommendations of a 2008 report by an advisory group on media mergers are being considered by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, as part of planned legislation to reform competition law. Media plurality (the concentration of ownership and the range of opinions) in Ireland is governed by competition law and...[full story]
Public sector reform: Changing the purchasing power – Vincent Campbell
Friday, August 19th, 2011Public procurement is a key part of the Government’s reform agenda. Stephen Dineen talks to the Director of the National Procurement Service, Vincent Campbell, about the reforms taking place. In these times of fiscal difficulty, one of the Government’s focuses is reforming the way in which it spends money. With the state having spent approximately €7 billion on goods and services and €8 billion on capital works last year (projected to be 10-15 per cent less in both categories this year), it is a major purchaser. Vincent Campbell is the man charged with implementing changes in...[full story]
Public sector reform: the macroeconomics of public sector reform – Philip Lane
Friday, August 19th, 2011Philip Lane outlines the importance of public sector efficiency to Ireland’s economic recovery. Baumol’s disease is the one of the most widely-accepted propositions in macroeconomics. This refers to the regularity that the cost of domestically- produced labour-intensive services tends to trend upwards relative to the cost of manufactured goods as a society grows richer. This is mainly explained by differential productivity growth between the services and manufacturing sectors, since the scope for capital deepening and technological change has historically been stronger in the latter...[full story]
Cork: A regional overview
Friday, August 19th, 2011Cork is the largest county, and Ireland’s second biggest city is continuing to attract a strong level of foreign direct investment. Spanning a total area of 7,454 km2 and over 1,100 km of coastline (second only to Mayo), Cork is the largest county in Ireland and contains the second largest city in the country. Approximately 10.5 per cent of Cork consists of forestry or woodland, and the county has 125 rivers and 32 lakes. The main rivers are the Lee, which runs through the city, the Bandon and the Blackwater. Mountain ranges in the county include the Boggeragh mountains, the Slieve...[full story]
Cork: Probing research – UCC lung cancer treatment invention
Friday, August 19th, 2011Dr Declan Soden tells Stephen Dineen about an invention that could revolutionise lung cancer treatment. An innovative device designed to provide endoscopic chemotherapy for those with lung cancer has been invented at the Cork Cancer Research Centre, and was joint winner of the University College Cork invention of the year award in April. It was invented by Declan Soden and John Hinchion. The lung laparascopic electroporation electrode (LLEE) device allows cancerous cells to be specifically targeted by a short pulse of energy so that the treatment drug can be targeted at the cancerous...[full story]
