AER Lingus and Telecom Eireann should be privatised by the Government, according to Mr Ray Curran, finance director at the Jefferson Smurfit Group.
Addressing the May lunch of the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants, Mr Curran laid the blame for large government borrowing on the public sector. He called on the Government to "pass over to private enterprise businesses that should be privatised".
Instead, the country was "storing up problems" in borrowing more to pay the public sector, he added. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Curran said Aer Lingus and Telecom would be candidates for privatisation as well as other semi states if "it increases competition and leads to efficiencies".
Mr Curran pointed out that "telecom, post and energy all have derogations" and charge more than a competitive market would sustain. The result is that the private sector pays the bills. "Excessive costs are imposed on the enterprise sector restricting its ability to compete, to generate wealth and, as a result, to create employment," he added.
To make matters worse, there was an unfunded liability to provide pensions to civil servants. "Nobody appears to know what these benefits will cost nor to appreciate the impact of early retirement offers such as were made to the teachers recently."
Mr Curran also said that there should be no such thing as a "job for life". "Four years is a whole lot shorter than life," he laughed, referring to Dr Michael Smurfit's controversial long term service contract.
He added that, although there has been real inflation adjusted growth of 37 per cent between 1987 and 1993, the national debt increased by £5 billion.
According to Mr Curran, some of this money went to a 46 per cent increase in public sector pay from £2.8 billion in 1987 to £4.1 billion in 1993.
The average industrial wage rose from £10,000 in 1987 to £13,600 in 1994, an increase of just 35 per cent. In the public sector there had been a 62 per cent increase from £14,178 to £23,000, he said.
The only way to increase employment was through enterprise and wealth creation, according to Mr Curran. "If the State is to improve potential profitability and attract enterprise, it needs to reduce the charges it imposes on enterprise through services provided and PRSI. A leaner state service and privatisations are the only way to deal with this problem," he insisted.
