Sean Barrett (Independent)

I welcome the Minister and I praise the brevity of the Bill and the explanatory memorandum. It is to be encouraged. Regulation can be funded from the industry, and I am glad to see this is the Minister's intention, with reference to the funding being repaid following phased implementation of the petroleum safety framework commencing in 2013 through the imposition of the prescribed annual levy on petroleum undertakings. This is quite a short time span and the small amount of €5 million is envisaged. For every 1% we can save through borrowing through the NTMA rather than directly we will save €50,000. Does the Minister have an estimate of the savings? This would be of interest. Should the sum of €5 million be included in the Bill? Supplementary Estimates can be a discipline on spending Departments and fiscal discipline is something we will work on for many years ahead because it is the IMF-EU-ECB agreement. I am glad it is operating between now and 2013 because safety is a current expenditure, and apart from borrowing for the short interval to which the Minister referred, borrowing for safety does not make much sense. The distinction between capital and current expenditure is sometimes fudged in our budgets but I am not sure it leads to any great improvement in the way we do our business.

I welcome the Bill and the payback period for which it provides. If we could set a prototype for dealing with banking institutions in order to start getting the money back in 2013, the country might be in a better place. Perhaps the Minister should communicate our views on that. The payback period looks good. It is not really capital expenditure except within a short period.

Do we have an estimate for the savings and does he think it a good idea to put the €5 million into the Bill so that it does not escalate and become part of our financial problems? Would it be a protection for taxpayers if the Bill provided for permission to be sought to borrow the €5 million for two years? I wish the Minister success with this measure.