Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ar an gcéad dul síos I welcome Senator Ó Clochartaigh’s general support for the Bill and the general support of the House for it. As regards the amendment before the House, the purpose of this Bill is to provide an explicit legal basis to enable the ESB to engage, now or in the future, in the installation and operation of an electronic communications network attached to the existing electricity network and to provide for consequential matters.

The current legislative proposal does not exempt the ESB from any current legislative requirements or regulatory rules. The ESB is required by the Electricity (Supply)(Amendment) Act of 1988 to secure the consent of my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to dispose of shares or interests in the assets of any such company. This requirement will apply to any electronic communications assets the ESB may develop directly or through any subsidiary.

If the ESB enters the fully liberalised electronic communications market in the future, in the manner it has proposed in outline form, or in any other form, it must do so on a commercial basis. It is essential therefore that it has the vires to negotiate on commercial terms with potential partners to co-fund the capital required to develop electronic communications networks. The authority to negotiate such funding would be significantly compromised if ownership of the asset is restricted to the State by primary legislation. For those reasons, I regret that I cannot accept the amendment advanced by the Senators.