Title: Irish public assets: establishment, control and privatisation of state-owned enterprises

Authors: John Jackson

Addresses: P.O. Box A1450, Sydney South, NSW 1235, Australia

Abstract: This article reviews the establishment and use of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Ireland. It notes the many difficulties experienced in obtaining a precise view of the composition of the Irish public sector and comments on ambivalent (and therefore often destructive) attitudes to the control of SOEs. It concludes with a privatisation case study, which demonstrates the ad hoc manner in which the divestment of public assets is often conducted, suggesting that altogether insufficient attention has been given in Ireland to values inherent in public ownership.

Keywords: Ireland; state-owned enterprises; Irish Telecom; Telecom Eireann; Eircom; privatisation; foreign ownership; public ownership; parliamentary accountability; public sector; public ownership; public assets; public sphere; public policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPP.2010.029782

International Journal of Public Policy, 2010 Vol.5 No.1, pp.74 - 85

Published online: 02 Dec 2009 *

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