Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

As the House will be aware, the Government decided last week that the new Irish water utility is to be an independent State-owned subsidiary of Bord Gáis Éireann. The new water utility is not and will not be included in the Government's programme of State asset disposals. The Government is committed to keeping it under State control.

Bord Gáis Éireann is an excellent example of a strong, vibrant and dynamic State company, which has demonstrated its capacity to invest and develop new, efficient and competitive business for the benefit of Irish consumers. In taking last week's decision, the Government's intention was that a number of key synergies would be achieved between the gas and the water utilities core network functions, such as operating in a regulated environment, network management, metering and utility operation systems. It is also important to note that these core functions will not be impacted by the sale of Bord Gáis Energy, the energy generation and supply business of Bord Gáis Éireann, which I previously announced as part of the Government's State asset disposal programme.

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