Mr. Noel Regan:

The rationale goes back quite a way to when the European gas markets were unbundling. Historically there would have been the national company, in our case, Bord Gáis Éireann, that did the supply and the transmission of gas. To create competition in the supply, the European Union introduced the gas package where we had to split the company that operates the pipelines, which has to charge a service fee to competitors that supply. In Ireland, for example, Flogas, SSE Airtricity and ESB compete and buy gas and pay the public service obligation, PSO, contribution. The reason for this unbundling is that, if for instance Bord Gáis Éireann energy was not sold and it was part of the same company, the fear was that the company that owns the grid would give it preferential treatment. They might be in the same building. It would give it access if there was a constraint. The fear was there would not have been equal access. They have to have separation of that. The instance that arises in Ireland is that several of the companies that use the gas network are also under our Minister's control such as, for example, the ESB and Bord na Móna. Therefore, our Minister cannot have control on both sides because other parties might complain that is unfair. In regard to the 90:5:5 ratio, it is common among the semi-States to do that. Typically what happens is, the Department of Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in this instance takes over the governance and consults. The 5% means it has to consult on big decisions with our Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. It provides for that too. This is a typical approach across the board.