Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I know he is not from the line Department. I find the contradictions in regard to this matter bizarre. When my colleague, Deputy Carthy, raised this matter with the Minister a couple of weeks ago, the latter agreed the subvention is unfair and that the Department had instructed the CRU to unwind it. We then had the situation whereby it emerged, via freedom of information requests, that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment had exceeded the scope of the CRU consultation. This rebalancing was not part of the consultation process, but the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment thought it was its role to tell the CRU that the Department did not agree with it. Now, the Minister of State is in the Seanad reiterating the independence of the CRU in the context of how it sets the tariffs. In 2009, the Government told the CRU what to do. Then the Government said it could not tell the CRU what to do and the Minister said the Government told it to unwind the subvention. Now, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is telling the CRU not to unwind it. Is the regulator independent or not?