Ms Loretta Joyce:

That is true, the licensed LPG undertakings, Calor and Flogas, have provided information and we have highlighted what we have found on these sites to them. I will outline what we are doing in respect of licence class 2 in particular.

We are placing a prescriptive obligation on these operators in order that it is clear what they need to do, versus the existing licence in which a safety case must be developed and submitted to us for acceptance. Deputy Bruton outlined how safety risks will be managed. For these operators, we felt it was more proportionate to use an operator handbook that is prescriptive and tells them exactly what they need to achieve compliance.

As for inspections, we found a number of issues on each site. As Mr. Gannon outlined, 25% of those sites needed immediate action, which entails isolation and a first response fitter coming to carry out remedial action. In all of the networks, we issued statutory instructions to the network operator to undertake remedial action within a certain time and we are following up with these operators. When we are not happy with the progress, we have placed a stop on the LPG tank so that it cannot be refilled until these remedial actions have been done. This is a way of ensuring these actions are carried out.

The 21-day provision has not hampered us in taking enforcement action; we have certainly used that power. However, we felt it was time to bring it into line with other comparable safety regulators that do not have that 21-day period. We felt it was an unnecessary delay as part of the process.