Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I do not have any principled objections; I treat each question on a pragmatic basis, looking to see what value we can get. In response to the Deputy's second question, I see the energy companies group slightly differently. I see Bord Gáis and ESB competing in the electricity and gas markets and they will probably become increasingly integrated. I also see them managing our electricity distribution network in ESB's case and the gas network in Bord Gáis's case, which they do in a very effective way. I believe they can compete with each other while still having a common owner. I do not see that impeding competition; in fact day in and day out they are competing very effectively against each other and bringing benefits with it.

They are also bringing great benefits to the State in that they are able to raise funds, which is difficult for certain companies in the State at present, and spend it very effectively. They are providing a very significant stimulus, along with EirGrid, in terms of developing our transmission and distribution networks that will be of long-term economic value to the State. Those companies are continually able to raise funds and spend large amounts of €1.5 billion to €2 billion each year in this country, which provides a major stimulus for the country and I want it to continue. The greatest value we can get from those companies is through the economic lift they give through their competent management and competitive instincts.

I would put Bord na Móna and Coillte in the same space although they have a slightly different energy space. While to date Bord na Móna's generation has been from biomass, from peat, I see that changing and moving away because the PSOs we are reviewing will come to an end in the latter part of this decade so those companies are already on a path towards seeking alternative markets and alternative space in the energy side. Bord na Móna in particular has a great opportunity in a range of environmental services and bio-energy businesses that are different in nature from the work that Bord Gáis and the ESB would do. They may well develop wind farms and their land bank may be very useful for the development of such resources, but I would imagine that would be done as it has been to date whereby they contract with other energy companies and in that collaborative basis get facilities built.

I believe Bord na Móna has great opportunities in its logistics skills and its ability to handle biomass and also its skills in providing environmental services in waste, water or energy services. It is quite different from a gas or electricity utility service, where there is a supply company, a network company and an energy company. That is a very different market and a very different business.

Coillte has a similar opportunity. This State asset review group could help us with working out the links between Coillte and Bord na Móna or the competitive market we want to create. It could help us to ascertain how we might access long-term finance, through pension funds and so on, to fund some of the forestry applications that could then provide material for such a bio-energy industry. That is where there is an opportunity to raise finance and generate economic activity that does not come from the State but from private finance sectors using the expertise of State companies.

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