The total cost of the privatisation process of Telecom Éireann has not been finalised as some invoices have not been received and some consultancy work is ongoing. The total cost incurred by my Department to date in connection with the initial public offering is approximately £73 million, including VAT.
The amounts paid to date, excluding VAT, to each consultant, adviser and other together with the services rendered by them are set out in the following table. The table does not include departmental costs such as salaries, incidental expenses, office equipment and machinery, et cetera, which are included in the total figure above.
The amount raised for the Exchequer from the initial public offering was approximately £3.3 billion. Therefore, the expenditure to date as a percentage of the proceeds is approximately 2.2 per cent which compares favourably to international precedent.
It should be noted that I am limited in making public announcements in relation to the share offer for 90 days after the IPO date. However, the decision on the setting of the share price was made by the Cabinet sub-committee dealing with the IPO based on the advice of the joint global co-ordinators and others. The movements in the share price since the IPO date are a matter for the international financial markets.
As stated in the programme for Government, An Action Programme for the Millennium, the Government will take a practical rather than an ideological approach to the future of the State companies, working in the spirit of social partnership and consensus. In this light we will examine the requirements of each of the State companies on a case by case basis, including their needs for external capital by means of share flotations or strategic alliances.
