There have been many debates on the pros and cons of selling State assets. The Government withdrew the option of selling Coillte, which was the right decision. Fine Gael had a plan in 2009 to sell State assets with a view to creating new jobs. One hour ago in the Chamber the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, confirmed no proceeds had been received from the sale of State assets, that none would be received by 15 December when the troika leaves and that none would be received in this calendar year. We all welcome the departure of the troika on 15 December. It is clear that during the three year plan no proceeds were received from the sale of State assets. Now that the troika is leaving and will no longer be here to ask the Government to sell them, the European Union is not asking the Government to sell State assets, as is no one on the Opposition side.

Wrong; the Deputy told us to do so.

Deputy Sean Fleming's party sold the whole country.

In 2014 why is------

Will Members, please, allow Deputy Sean Fleming to pose his questions?

Why is the Labour Party, headed by the Tánaiste and ably assisted by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, determined to proceed with the sale of Bord Gáis in 2014, as well as the sale of power generation plants owned by the ESB when no one other than Fine Gael is asking it to do so? As the leader of the Labour Party, will the Tánaiste move away from his programme for Government commitments? It may have been part of the troika arrangement, but the troika is now gone and no one is asking the Labour Party to do so except Fine Gael.

No thanks to Fianna Fáil.

Will the Labour Party stand up for the national assets?

The Deputy is a hypocrite.

The Government would privatise their grannies.

Settle down.

Of all the hard-necked hypocrisy I have heard-----

Hear, hear.

-----in this House in the past three years, this beats it all. This is wonderful. Here is the party that did a deal with the troika when it came in here three years ago-----

It said the troika was not coming in.

-----to sell €5 billion worth of State assets.

Correct.

Remember that?

The Tánaiste did not agree with it.

To get €5 billion by the end of 2010, one would have had to sell every State company, port, airport and virtually everything that the State owned. That is what Fianna Fáil agreed, and we had to renegotiate.

Hear, hear.

The Tánaiste did not agree at the time.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, renegotiated that deal with the European Commission. Incidentally, under the previous terms, all €5 billion of the proceeds of the asset sale were to be used entirely for writing down debt and none of it was to be used for reinvestment in the Irish economy.

An own goal.

The renegotiation by this Government was for a minimum of €1 billion, with a target of €3 billion and 50% of the total, to be used for reinvestment in the Irish economy to generate employment. We had always stated in the programme for Government that there could be a strategic sale of non-strategic State assets, with income arising from sales reinvested in the economy in order to generate employment and bring about economic recovery. It is almost to the day the third anniversary of Fianna Fáil's bringing the troika to the country, and it is almost to the day the anniversary of the party's putting the country into receivership. For the Deputy to come in today with this cant, hypocrisy and nonsense, it really does beat Banagher.

Hear, hear.

Shame on them.

Add that to the shopping list. Put the lot on it.

They should apologise.

Those opposite have a bad case of political amnesia.

The shelves would be clear.

Settle down.

They have the wrong script.

They keep digging.

Stop digging, Deputy Fleming, and sit down.

It is clear that I have rattled the Tánaiste.

Deputy Dooley should tweet Deputy Fleming something else.

Please, allow the Deputy a minute to respond.

That outburst will go down in history.

Taxi for Fleming.

Allow the Deputy to respond.

Hold my jacket.

As the Tánaiste knows, there was no mention of €5 billion in any agreement with the troika.

That is a fact.

As the Tánaiste knows, we have met all the targets in the 12 quarterly reviews. We have received no money from the sale of State assets during the three-year programme, which is now ending. The question remains of why the Labour Party is determined to take on Fine Gael clothes and sell national infrastructure.

It is better than taking on Fianna Fáil's.

This includes electricity generation by the ESB and Bord Gáis Energy. Why is the Labour Party agreeing to this when nobody inside the House, other than Fine Gael, or outside the House is looking for it? The IMF has not asked the Government to sell State assets, as its representatives are on the way home, and the EU has not asked us to sell State assets. When nobody is asking it to do so, why is the Labour Party determined to sell our national infrastructure?

Well, that was a disaster.

Why does the Deputy not ask Mary O'Rourke?

The Deputy mentioned a rattle. The only rattle we are getting here is the rattle of the decrepit memorandum of understanding that is still around-----

Rattles thrown out of a pram.

-----and the empty vessel that is now Fianna Fáil. Will the Deputy make up his mind on his position?

What is the Labour Party's position?

He was in here an hour ago asking the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform why State assets had not been sold-----

-----and why he had not raised money to date from the sale of State assets.

Deputy Healy-Rae cannot even back him up.

Unreasonable.

It is true that Fianna Fáil did not put the figure of €5 billion in the memorandum of understanding.

The Tánaiste stated a minute ago that we had.

Be quiet. It is a bad day for the Deputy.

It was very clear-----

It is backtracking.

It was plain that this was the clear understanding with the troika, and it was certainly made known to us when the Government was formed. We are now exiting the troika programme in which Fianna Fáil placed us. If the party had had its way we would now be in a position in which virtually every port, airport and State company had been sold. Instead, the Deputy is complaining today that no money has been raised from the sale of State assets.

Nobody believes that.

That was the effect of what Fianna Fáil agreed with the troika.

There was no agreement to that effect.

It takes some neck and hypocrisy-----

What is the Labour Party's policy?

The Labour Party is rattled.

-----to come here today and raise this issue-----

Why is the ESB being sold?

-----of all issues.

Why is it being sold?

Make up your mind where you stand on the issue.

Where does the Tánaiste stand?

An hour ago it was a different tune.

Fianna Fáil should make up its mind on where it stands on investment in the economy and the creation of jobs.

Why are the assets being sold?

Happily, this country is in a position in which it has-----

The Government has the same power-----

-----exited the bailout into which Fianna Fáil put us. We are moving towards economic recovery.

The Tánaiste did not answer the question.