Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and Deputy Colreavy. I appreciate the olive branch on both issues and the Deputy's remarks about Bord Gáis. The Government stated from the outset that under no circumstances would it engage in any kind of bargain-basement disposal of Bord Gáis and that the energy business of Bord Gáis, which is not a strategic consideration in the same sense as the distribution networks and so on, would only be sold at fair value. In our judgement and that of the advisers to the Department and the company, the final bids that came through did not represent fair value. As a result, I announced this morning that the prices are unacceptable and that we will continue to develop the energy business of Bord Gáis. I am going into the House to complete the Gas Regulation Bill shortly.

On the wider issue of land use planning, natural resources and taxation, I suspect that Deputy Colreavy and I - le cúnamh Dé - will be around to discuss the details for some time into the future.