Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The code of practice for the governance of State bodies provides, in the case of commercial State bodies, for a shareholder letter of expectation which outlines the terms of the relationship with the parent Department. The shareholder letter of expectation contains commercially sensitive information and, as such, it would not be appropriate for it to be publicly available. I am not aware of a similar precedent for any other Irish commercial State body. On this basis, I propose to reject these amendments as it would not be appropriate for the shareholder letter of expectation to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Senator stated that she does not believe GNI is a relevant body and suggested that, as a semi-State public body, it is not subject to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act. In fact, it is specifically listed as a relevant body and is subject to the requirements of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as amended. The term "relevant body" includes a public body which is defined by reference to the Freedom of Information Act 2014, to which Gas Networks Ireland is subject and will continue to be subject with the passage of this Bill. Although the shareholder letter of expectation contains expectations around money and its commercial activity as a commercial State body, that does not mean those are the priority or the only objectives of the organisation. It is legally required to meet the objectives under the climate Act. In addition, it has its own strategic plan which it has to follow, but it also has commercial objectives. As it operates in a commercial competitive environment, it would be damaging to its commercial interests to publish exactly the details of the expected return on investment or the expected dividend from the company back to the State. When one sees redacted documents, one always expects there to be something amazing under the black lines. It is always disappointing when one sees what it actually is.