The Workers’ Party have called for the scrapping of all proposed privatisations of state assets in the wake of the latest debacle concerning Bórd Gais Energy.

Workers’ Party President Michael Finnegan said that instead of putting the proposed sale of the company on hold, Minister Pat Rabbitte should accept that the proposition was flawed and should put an end to the privatisation plans for Bord Gáis and for the other state companies.

Mr. Finnegan said ,  “Minister Rabbitte seems surprised at the low bids offered for Bord Gáis Energy.  I and the Workers Party am not at all surprised by them.   The nature of capitalism dictates that business will always try to buy something for the lowest possible price.  Their motive is profit and profit alone.  Surely Mr. Rabbitte understands this despite his conversion to the illusion of market capitalism”.

“More importantly for Ireland”, said Michael Finnegan, “is not the market value of a company like Bord Gáis Energy, but its strategic and economic value to this state.  The price of commodities may rise and fall but state companies like the ESB and Bord Gáis are the drivers of the economy.  Their worth is much more than a figure in euros or dollars, and their loss for a short-term bonus will have long-term and damaging consequences”.

The Workers’ Party president said it was high time to learn the lessons of privatisation from both home and abroad.  Mr. Finnegan called for the rejection of the McCarthy report on the sale of state assets and the abolition of the New Era project, both of which he described as “utterly discredited”.

Issued 28th November 2013