THE ESB would not be broken up when the Government sold a minority shareholding, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore told the Dáil.

He also said no decision had been made on selling the Government’s remaining share in Aer Lingus. Nor had a decision been made about the percentage holding in the ESB to be sold.

“The company will not be broken up, a course of action I heard somebody advocating on a radio programme this morning,” said Mr Gilmore. “It will be retained as a single entity in the national interest.”

He added that the manner in which the sale would take place, the amount of the shareholding to be sold and the issue of finding a compatible investor were matters that would be addressed by the Ministers for Energy and Public Expenditure and Reform.

“They will report to the Government on these matters by the end of November,” said Mr Gilmore.

The Tánaiste was replying to Fianna Fáil deputy leader Éamon Ó Cuív who said selling parts of State companies meant heading down “an inexorable route towards total privatisation”.

Mr Ó Cuív said he could take it that up to 49 per cent of the ESB might be sold. He asked if the transmission assets, which comprised power cables as well as the network, would be kept in 100 per cent State ownership and would not be transferred to Eirgrid.

He also sought clarification on whether the transmission system in Northern Ireland, which was owned by the ESB, would be retained in State ownership. Mr Gilmore said the Government had to consider the sale of State assets because of the hole Mr Ó Cuív’s government dug for the State.

“It is remiss of the parties opposite not to acknowledge the success enjoyed by the Government in getting the interest rate reduced,” he added. “From the time the Government was formed last March, they constantly told us it could not be done.”

Mr Gilmore said it had been achieved on terms that were far in excess of what the Opposition parties claimed were possible. He said there was already a minority shareholding in the ESB which was held by the staff.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said that during the general election campaign, Mr Gilmore said that his party was committed to the concept of public enterprise and opposed to short-termist privatisation of key State assets such as Coillte or the energy networks.

Mr Gilmore said Sinn Féin had made its own unique contribution to the State’s difficulty because it had supported the bank guarantee. Mr Adams said Labour was “aping Fine Gael” with the response that “the big boys made them do it”.

Mr Gilmore said the Government was perfectly capable of making its decision and taking responsibility for it.