Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is a whole range of things and I will give the Deputy a comprehensive answer if I may. I have already given a comprehensive answer several times. These are not State agencies. They are commercial entities which happen to be owned by the State with a commercial mandate operating in a regulated environment. The notion that they are agencies or Departments of State doing a bit of commercial work on the side which should be exempt is fundamentally a different concept from mine. I see them as commercial companies established by the State, owned by the State and paying the State a dividend, with a commercial mandate to compete in a competitive environment. For this reason they are wholly commercial entities and should be regarded as such.