Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Exactly, and the Minister is dealing with them specifically.

I would like to tease out the EirGrid issue in order that we understand the nature of the company. I will desist from bias in my language but I am not sure that I fully agree with the Minister's comments about the company. It provides all the 400 kV and 200 kV power lines in the electricity transmission network, while the smaller lines - 38 kV and so on - that run into people's houses are provided by the ESB. EirGrid's mission is to transport the electricity produced by the generator, public and private. The ESB has had to divest some of its generating capacity in the interest of flexibility and market liberalisation. It has nothing to do with the recently announced sale of State assets, which is a separate issue. ESB probably only produces between 30% and 40% of electricity in the State.

Wherever electricity is generated, EirGrid's mandate is to transport it to wherever it is required, and that generally means from other parts of Ireland to the east coast. There is no commercial issue. The companies running the power stations in Wexford, Cork or Moneypoint deal with commercial organisations. EirGrid is investing of a few billion euro of taxpayer's money ultimately but it is a public body that is a service provider. Every public body engages in commercial transactions. For example, local authorities purchase materials but they cannot be excluded from FOI because the companies that supply services to them would not like their information to become public. This is also a commercially sensitive issue.

The reasons these bodies are included in the Schedule is that Departments do not trust the Information Commissioner. They think he might be too liberal in his interpretation of commercial sensitivity. This exemption is a mechanism to prevent this issue from being examined by the Information Commissioner on appeal. This is one way for a Department to ensure information will never get out. Like every other body, EirGrid deals with commercial organisations, but it is not in competition with anyone. Will the Minister take me through the reasoning again?