Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I must confess that I did not even know about this incident until the Deputy put down the question. However, I was only recently engaged in exchanges in the House with Deputy Catherine Murphy about the unfortunate incident that happened at Leixlip. There is a very careful safety framework in place and it is effectively supervised by the national gas safety committee, which includes organisations like the Health and Safety Authority and technical personnel from my Department.

It is important to state that there was no explosion, nor is there any evidence that the underground pipeline was breached. It is true that the inspection revealed evidence of abnormally high temperatures, but there was not an explosion and the pipeline was not breached. Going back over the years, the safety record of Bord Gáis Éireann is very good. I was in Cork recently and met senior personnel in the company and they are very proud of their record on this. I think I can give Deputy McGrath the assurance he is looking for.

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