Posts tagged ‘State Assets’
State Assets: Making industrial policy key
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011A state holding company would help better governance of the state companies and “unlock” billions through the sale of shares, Paul Sweeney tells Meadhbh Monahan. Fine Gael’s New Era concept is a more preferable option than privatisation, according to ICTU’s Chief Economist Paul Sweeney. In theory, a state holding company would hold the shares, which are currently held by the Department of Finance. Therefore, line departments would manage the companies e.g. CIE in transport and ESB in energy. This would free up “incompetent” civil servants “who know nothing about the commercial...[full story]
State Assets: Selling state assets: some key issues
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011With the Government committed to raising €2 billion from selling state owned companies, Stephen Keogh, Partner at William Fry, highlights some structural, legal and commercial issues to be considered in respect of such transactions. It 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...[full story]
State Assets: Taking an economic approach
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011ESRI economist Paul Gorecki tells Meadhbh Monahan about the options open to the Government when considering the future of state assets. There are three approaches that can be used in order to determine what assets should be sold to reach the €2 billion target, Gorecki began. Addressing an eolas seminar on state assets, he advocated the use of an economic approach which examines the rationale for public ownership, thereby identifying strategic assets, and which is consistent with the McCarthy report on state assets. The first approach, revenue maximisation, would involve advisers being...[full story]
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]
