Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I also thank the Minister of State with responsibility for this area, Deputy O'Dowd, for being in the House. I know he works extremely hard. The Bill provides for the restructuring of Bord Gáis Éireann and allows the generation and retail part of the business to be separated from the network, which is not being sold and will remain in State ownership. The Bill will allow Bord Gáis to be split into two companies. One will take control of the physical gas network and another will take control of the energy business. Bord Gáis Energy employs a sizeable number of people and serves more than 825,000 gas and electricity customers. The programme for Government commits to a sale of State assets as a means of funding jobs and growth, which is to be welcomed. The sale of Bord Gáis Energy is also a commitment in the EU-IMF programme. The Government has initiated the sale process, which was formally launched in May 2013 and will be concluded by the end of the year.

The gas networks and the two gas interconnectors will be retained in State ownership as national strategic infrastructure. This is vital for the continued delivery of the nation's energy supplies. It is the lesser of two evils to sell the energy business rather than the network itself. Half of the proceeds from the sale of Bord Gáis will be allocated to fund employment-enhancing projects of a commercial nature. The other half will help to pay down the national debt. However, the Minister has confirmed the money will serve to underpin additional lending into Ireland by the European Investment Bank - for example, to support continued investment in job creation initiatives. More information on this would be appreciated. The sale of Bord Gáis is expected to generate €1.5 billion but some commentators estimate it will be closer to €1 billion. Concerns have been raised about the timing and that we may undersell a State asset. Other speakers referred to the debacle with Eircom, which was flipped and sold on for huge profits to the detriment of the taxpayer.

In advance of the sale it is important that the potential loss of jobs be fully assessed, and employees need to know and have a right to know where they stand and whether they have a future at the company after the sales process is completed. Many concerns have been raised by various parties. Sinn Féin states that the Government should invest to a greater extent in the energy market rather than off-loading it onto the private sector, but the economic situation is not ideal. The Government does not want to sell State assets, but we must deal with the real world. Concerns have also been raised about significant job losses, and I ask the Minister of State to refer to this. There are also concerns that control of the water system could be affected by the change. What regulations will be put in place to monitor the new owner and ensure water charges are not increased year on year and hospitals and schools are not charged for their water usage? The Government has been accused of lacking the courage to hold onto the assets, but the national accounts are in a difficult situation.

From a consumer's perspective, what effect will the sale have on gas prices? It will be preceded by the deregulation of gas prices charged by Bord Gáis, which means the new owners will be able to charge whatever they want for gas. We have seen increases from the ESB and Eircom.

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