Privatisation and Oversight

dahamsta

[Reposted from Politics.]

Mmmmm I don't think I said anything like that - I said a *bit* more competition, not sell everything off to whoever has the most cash and f*ck the consequences and the safety concerns, as happened with British Rail...

I often come off more adversarial than I intend, my apologies. In this case I was genuinely just being sarcastic, and my failure to actually expand on the issues was left as an exercise for the reader[1].

However, the fact remains that Ireland's most recent privatisation, Telecom Eireann, has been a complete and utter failure that has left Irish consumers paying exorbitant prices for telecommunications services; and businesses - particularly indigenous businesses - at a dangerous competitive disadvantage, both in Europe and globally. It has also put our already perilous over-reliance on Enterprise at increased risk, simply because the cost of telecommunications in Ireland, factored with other disadvantages of operating in Ireland - such as the high cost of skilled employees - could outweigh the benefits of low Corporation Tax. And there is no end in sight to these problems, because the Government will not tackle the issues proactively, which - because of the mistakes - is positively mandatory at this stage of the game.

The sell-off of TE infrastructure - not to mention the advocacy of TE investments as valuable long-term opportunities[3] - was either a colossal error of judgement that implies gross incompetence, or, more likely, a perfect example of the sordid conflicts of interest that befoul Ireland[2]. A much more favourable and intelligent course of action would have been to sell off the retail divisions of TE, and retain the infrastructure with an eye to possibly privatising it at a later date; or alternatively, the privatisation of wholesale and retail divisions separately, with conditions attached disallowing future M&A. And this isn't just about hindsight: it's not as if they didn't know TE had a monopoly; and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the newly privatised company is going to be a de facto, sanctioned monopoly that will need to be watched and controlled.

I don't necessarily object to privatisation - athough it has to be said that, as I think I've made clear, I would seriously question the selling off of infrastructure, given the case studies of both TE and Railtrack[4] - I just believe there has to be far better oversight, and there has to be a demonstration that Government will learn from their mistakes. Unfortunately though, I'm very skeptical that the Government can (or even want to) learn from their mistakes, and I believe any future efforts at privatisation will be replications of the TE fiasco. And since we are left with another FF-led Government - more due to the incompetence of Opposition than competence in the incumbent - it is left to us, and not the Government, to perform oversight duties. That is quite simply wrong -- IrelandOffline shouldn't even exist, never mind find themselves defining policy for Government Departments.

[As an example, it has ultimately been left to IrelandOffline to "fix" the Government's fibre rings project, because of the positively dumbfounding omission of last-mile connectivity solutions. IrelandOffline has also found itself in the position of essentially "teaching" the Department of Public Enterprise how to mandate flat-rate Internet connectivity in Ireland, by providing examples and case studies of how it has been mandated in other countries. That ultimately led to a meeting in Italy between Irish and Italian civil servants, to try and figure it out. I ask you, if the Government was "working", would an organisation like IrelandOffline - one made up of volunteers with zero previous experience in either politics or telecommunications - ever find themselves in this position?]

Bertie and FF are very keen to keep things behind the scenes, to hide it all away from the public, either intentionally or possibly in the mistaken belief that the Irish public will not understand[5]. This has to stop. There has to be more transparency and accountability at every level of Government, from the Taoiseach through the Cabinet, right down to the Departments, Offices and civil servants. There has to be more oversight committees, more oversight hearings, more oversight reports; all in the public eye, all available so that citizens are in a position where they can at least try to understand. I'm not talking about, or asking for, nor do I even want more tribunals, where the only people who win are the barristers that charge extortianate fees for their services. I just want oversight. It's not asking for much, is it?

adam

[1] I was stirring.
[2] I obviously sway heavily towards the latter, particularly given the political presence on the then Eircom Board.
[3] I accept that stocks and shares are a risk, however the Government put some very dodgy spin on the offering.
[4] And Railtrack has proven that even the separation approach mightn't work. It certainly hasn't work for rail in the UK.
[5] I don't believe the latter for a second.

(sp)

MDR

Adam,

I enjoyed reading your rant and you touched upon a few points, which you have brought up frequentily before. I take it this post arose in a topic relating to government policy on privatisation. Even though I agree in principle with alot of what you have, I would like to make two points,

1. Your post is well structured, informed and executed, however it has an agressive overtone, which makes it more dangerous than any of the childish 'lets blow Eircom up' type posts. So I ask this question, if let say a Civil Servant from the DoPE looked up the IOFFL website, and followed the link to these boards, and read your message, what effect would that have on IOFFL's credibility.

There is currentily no problem as there is no link, however I have been advocate for the retention of the link between the boards and webpages, it allow a natural discussion group for new members. As there is no link, new members never know that these boards exists and eventually due to lack of input would lose interest.

So whereas, I have no real great issue with your post, I wish that was a different forum to address these sortof issues, a sortof Ireland Offline UnCensored if you will ... Perhaps this board should be retained for exactily that, and other more PC should be provided elsewhere.

2. I have a rule of thumb when examining the actions of others, 'never attribute to malice that which can be sufficentily explained by stupidity'. I don't believe for a moment that there is any greater conspiracy out there in Government Circles, I do believe however that people who attain high office in Government, often have had the charisma to get the job but lack the brains to do it.

dahamsta

Hi MDR,

I take it this post arose in a topic relating to government policy on privatisation.

Indeed. There's a link to it at the top of my post.

Your post ... has an agressive overtone, which makes it more dangerous than any of the childish 'lets blow Eircom up' type posts.

I certainly accept that it's agressive - it wasn't intended to be particularly so, but that's what comes from the ludicrous situation we find ourselves in - but I'm afraid I have to respectfully disagree that it's more dangerous than the aforementioned childish posts. Unlike the militant minority who most often have no idea what they're talking about, I do have a fair idea of the subject matter, and I give valid reasoning and evidence for my accusations, and for my agression. My commentary may not be particularly politically correct, but it's hardly unfounded. Not only that, I offer a solution: oversight.

I also accept that ostensibly "solving" the problems with the TE privatisation retroactively is just an intellectual exercise, however it was provided as an example of: a) a particularly bad decision by the incumbent (political party), with far-reaching consequences that couldn't possibly have been overlooked at the time by an intelligent person (which demonstrates either incompetence or malicious foreknowledge); and b) behaviour that I believe will be repeated by the incumbent. Most importantly though, it was in context, and my reposting here took it out of context.

And finally, I'm not threatening anyone with my commentary, beyond questioning their abilities and/or character. Questioning someone's character is, I accept, a questionable practise; but again, the presence of political representatives on the board of Eircom was highly questionable in itself. Questioning a public representatives abilities should be par for the course. It's obvious to me that many of our public representatives are, as you point out later, wonderfully adept at political strategy, but utterly devoid of common sense, and, occasionally, even intelligence.

if let say a Civil Servant from the DoPE looked up the IOFFL website, and followed the link to these boards, and read your message, what effect would that have on IOFFL's credibility.

Well, for a start they couldn't follow a link to here from the IrelandOffline site, because there isn't one. But more about that later.

Let's make one thing clear first anyway: Civil servants from the Department do visit here. In fact, I doubt you would believe the list of dignitaries and VIP's that visit this forum on a regular basis if I gave it to you, I suppose to get a feel for what's happening on the ground. However, I don't believe that that fact should have any bearing on my contribution to the forum. I hate to sound like one of those annoying "self-made" businessmen - hell, I pretty much am - but I speak my mind, and if people don't like what I say, they simply don't have to listen to me.

Does it have an effect on IrelandOffline's credibility? Perhaps, but I'm not so sure. I read my post again after I read yours, and it still makes perfect sense to me. It's not drunken outpourings (which I admit I've done before) and it's not blind-rage ranting, it's logical, founded commentary on the failings - and possible future failings - of privatisation, and the real need for Government oversight. Some people may disagree with me, some people may even feel wronged, but where better to defend themselves than here? They have the means, and they have the opportunity.

There is currentily no problem as there is no link, however I have been advocate for the retention of the link between the boards and webpages ...

I agree with you, and I think the committee does too. Unfortunately though, this is more a case of IrelandOffline being undermanned and underfunded than a malicious action intended to separate or harm the community. It's also my fault directly to a degree, since I'm hosting the site, and I won't let anyone near it at the moment because I'm migrating servers.

I wish that was a different forum to address these sortof issues, a sortof Ireland Offline UnCensored if you will ... Perhaps this board should be retained for exactily that, and other more PC should be provided elsewhere.

That was the initial intention, and that is actually the situation. This forum was to be retained as the unofficial members forum, where IrelandOffline could disclaim responsibility for the malicious and/or agressive rhetoric, but still take advantage of the often very useful natural day-to-day discussion. Again, it has been scuppered to a degree, again mostly because of me. But I'll right that wrong Real Soon Now.

'never attribute to malice that which can be sufficentily explained by stupidity'

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

(Actually that's not entirely appropriate, I just couldn't be ar5ed coming up with something myself.)

I don't believe for a moment that there is any greater conspiracy out there in Government Circles, I do believe however that people who attain high office in Government, often have had the charisma to get the job but lack the brains to do it.

I agree with you on the latter, but not the former -- although I think "conspiracy" is probably reaching a bit. I think of conspiracies as groups of people in dark rooms whispering to each other. I think of our Government as people in bright, airy, richly-decorated rooms; masticulating, gesturing and uttering loudly and obnoxiously about things like the easiest way out of the stupid situations they've created for themselves, how to spin the situation to make it look like they meant it, how to avoid getting caught, and how to get the Ministerial Merc from A to B faster.

Ok, I'm being facetious, I don't actually believe that. I do, however, believe that stupidity is not the issue here. Our public representatives aren't stupid by any manner of means, even in light of some of the aforementioned ludicrous situations they often find themselves in. The only attribute they can really be accused of is being "cute", in the "Cork hoor" sense. They're so sharp they cut themselves, quite regularly; they're playing games, as the childish behaviour in the House often demonstrated. They need to stop playing games, get over themselves, and get on with the job.

With all that in mind, I genuinely don't believe for a second that the TE privatisation was some massive error of judgement. It was handled, it was managed, and this is the fallout they expected. And when you think about it, when you think that tiny little IrelandOffline, with just 1600 members, is the only organisation that has been making an effort to right the wrongs until recently, you really have to concede that they've pretty much gotten away with it until now. Unfortunately, they think that's clever. But it won't look half as clever when our economy fizzles out because of it.

And believe me, unless they tear the soothers out of their gobs pretty sharpish, that's exactly what will happen.

adam