Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The Government has decided to dispose of Bord Gáis Éireann's energy business and some of the ESB's non-strategic power generation capacity as part of the State assets disposal programme. The Government has also reiterated its commitment to retaining the electricity and gas networks, as well as the two gas interconnectors in State ownership as national strategic infrastructure, critical for the delivery of secure, sustainable and competitive energy supplies.

The ESB will remain a vertically integrated utility, positioned more competitively in the all-island energy market and, in due course, in the integrated European market. The sale of Bord Gáis energy will support this dynamic, successful company and its employees to continue to invest and grow while enhancing competition in the energy market for the benefit of the economy and consumers.

I do not envisage job losses in the ESB or Bord Gáis Éireann as an outcome of the planned disposals. The proposed sales can deliver positive outcomes for Ireland's energy markets, the two State utilities and their employees, consumers and business. In this context, it is also important to underline that the Government has successfully negotiated with the troika to ensure that 50% of the sale proceeds will be available for reinvestment under the recently announced infrastructure stimulus package.

Significant progress has been made in implementing the asset disposal programme, in line with our commitments under the EU-ECB-IMF funding programme. Tender processes for the appointment of financial advisers to oversee the sale of Bord Gáis Energy have now commenced. My Department is also progressing priority actions to address necessary legislative, regulatory and financial issues with a view to commencing the disposal process in 2013.

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