Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a lease of a licence that returns to the State in 20 years, as did previous leases.

I cannot recall the colleague who said that this was a vagary of the Minister, Deputy Howlin, or the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This is the Government's decision. It is the view of both parties in Government that this Bill, and this process, should proceed. The Minister is not taking some sort of out-of-orbit position and moving ahead of everyone else. This is the Government's position. The Government stands over it and it respectfully asks colleagues here in the Upper House to support this Bill. We are not selling this asset in perpetuity. That is not happening. It is a long-term lease.

Senator O'Brien asked if I had a means of establishing how we would come up with a figure, and she gave a figure. The Government has been careful not to use a figure because, pending the decision of this House on the Bill, a competition will commence and it would not be useful for any Minister to set out his or her ambition for an amount. That would not be useful. We will have a competition, and the outcome of the competition will set out what the market shows for these things.

In terms of the operation of all these licences, there is a view internationally that they can be done differently and that the model of business can be different. The Senator would know from her own business that flabby costs can be taken out.