PRIVATISATION: LESSONS FROm THE Uk

AbstRAct This chapter outlines the development of privatisation as a policy in the UK, analyses the impact that privatisation had on UK economic performance and points to some lessons that Ireland might learn from the experience. The lessons for Ireland of the UK experience are that as part of a wider programme of opening up the economy to market forces, privatisation can lead to efficiency gains, from which consumers and taxpayers benefit. However these efficiency gains are not guaranteed. Improvements in efficiency tend to be associated with the arrival of competition and better regulation rather than privatisation per se