Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State to look at those options. It strikes me, from the structure he has set up, that he will not have that option down the line. That is my concern. This is the section that deals with it because it is the section that contains the share-holding and it is the share-holding that will determine what happens. It looks as if the State will be a spectator at this game and I am merely concerned from the point of view of the consumer.

I am not laying this at the doorstep of the Minister of State, but as a State we have not been particularly good over a long period of time at getting best value in a range of areas. Look at what lawyers and the medical profession charge. The State has done nothing about it although Competition Authority reports have been sitting on desks for decades and more. It will be a very strong bone of political contention when these people get going and efficiencies within the company will be highlighted because people will be charged for water and will know inefficiencies in the overheads will be part of the charge. Will the Minister of State examine this and take it seriously? I am not raising this just to harangue Bord Gáis but genuinely from evidence I have had from a number of people who worked in the company. In my opinion it leaves much to be desired.