Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will work with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to address the continued decimation of the retail service station network here and ensure that this critical infrastructure remains an integral part of the key national infrastructure for energy security; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21399/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The Irish oil industry is fully privatised, liberalised and deregulated. There is free entry into and out of the market. Current trends in the retail petrol station network are a matter for the commercial companies themselves and I have no statutory function in the matter.

I have recently commissioned a study on the security of Ireland's access to oil supplies, which will include an assessment of the existing structure and structural trends of the Irish oil industry and its ability to maintain adequate supplies into the Irish market on a national level. However, while the study will provide useful analysis of the overall trends in the oil market, I must emphasise that decisions on retail petrol outlets are entirely a matter for commercial companies.