Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

The sequence of consents and planning is included and clearly laid out in section 182(c) of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act.

As I have said in the Department and as one of the Deputies mentioned, there is a need, although it is not something that will be done this side of an election, to have a review of the different Acts, which include the Continental Shelf Act, the Foreshore Acts and so on, to consolidate the legislation into one Act. That would be a valuable exercise for the future.

Deputy Broughan raised a question on safety matters and proposed that they should be put in the hands of one body. On foot of the Advantica report and my Department's TAG report, I had hoped to insert sections into this Bill which would deal precisely with that safety issue, which the Deputy has raised on a number of occasions. Much work has taken place in this area, particularly in regard to making CER responsible for it. What is involved is probably a bit more complicated than we thought. We are continuing to work on it. If we can, we will try to produce amendments to the Bill before it goes through the Seanad and it would then have to come back to this House. If we cannot do that, we will work on a separate Bill to make sure such a measure is put in place.

I wish to clarify a point regarding CPOs and CAOs which Deputy Cowley and others mentioned on a number of occasions. The procedure in regard to CAOs and CPOs does not only apply to Shell. BGE always had the right to obtain CAOs and CPOs in pursuit of its business. The legal advice we got under EU directives etc. was that this was a power that could not be confined only to a semi-State company. It had to be available to all companies that were going to operate in the gas market. It is for that reason that the law had to be changed and not for any other conspiratorial reasons that some people like to put forward.

Many of the questions overlapped and I hope I have answered them all.

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