Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is a technical amendment that provides that a reference to the Act of 2002 is a reference to the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002. Amendment No. 6 is an amendment to section 13(1) of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002, which refers to the requirement by certain licence holders to publish, subject to the approval of the commission, a code of operations in respect of all technical design, operational and other requirements, including technical safety criteria relating to connection to and operation of the facilities in respect of which the holder has been granted the licence. On the advice of the CER, the obligation under section 13(1) will apply to licence holders under section 16(1)(c) and 16(1)(d) of the 2002 Act, namely, licence holders in respect of the ownership and operation of a transmission system or the ownership and operation of a distribution system.

The purpose of amendment No. 7 is to insert a new provision into the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002. Sections 16(1)(a) (c) or (d) of the 2002 Act refer to the holder of a licence in respect of a supply of natural gas, the ownership and operation of a transmission system or the ownership and operation of a distribution system.This provision will enable the CER to specify in licences issued under section 16(1)(a), (c) or (d) of the Act of 2002 such standards of performance and quality in connection with the supply of natural gas to final customers as the CER determines ought to be achieved. The provision places a statutory obligation on the licenceholder to achieve and comply with the standards of performance as specified by the commission in the licence. The failure to comply with such standards now comes under the definition of improper conduct.

If I am correct in terms of the order of amendments, there is a proposal to delete section 27. I think that comes under this.