asked the Minister for Energy the average cost of producing a therm of energy in town gas supplies; and the price being paid by An Bord Gáis to the Marathon company.

Taking the town gas industry as a whole, the average cost in 1980 per therm of energy produced by the State's eight town gas undertakings was £1.12p approximately.

In the course of my reply on 2 December 1980 to the debate on the Second Stage of the Gas Bill, 1980, I stated that the price being paid by Bord Gáis Éireann to Marathon was on foot of a commercial contract which was negotiated some years ago, that disclosure by one party to the contract of its terms in regard to price would be regarded as a breach of confidentiality and that I did not propose to do this. The Deputy will, therefore, appreciate why I consider that it would be improper for me to provide the information requested in the second part of his question.

Is the Minister not aware that there is a public debate in progress as to whether there should be a gas pipeline from Kinsale to Dublin and to other parts of the country? How can we evaluate the merits of the case either for or against unless we know the value of the gas and the price per therm which is being paid by the board to Marathon?

As I have stated, the price being paid is part of a contract between the board and Marathon. That is a commercial contract and it is not the practice and never has been the practice to reveal details of such contracts. It would be totally inappropriate and wrong to do so.

I shall allow one final supplementary.

Will details of the price be made available before a decision is reached?

The details requested in the question will not be revealed.

The remaining questions will appear on the Order Paper for Tuesday next.