asked the Minister for Industry and Energy if he will confirm that the annual cost of operating the Whitegate Oil Refinery will result in a 1p per gallon excise duty on the retail sale price of all oil products in the country; and the manner in which this excise duty will be channelled to the company.

It is not possible to say precisely at this stage what the incremental per gallon cost of operating the Whitegate refinery will be, assuming any such incremental costs do arise; nor is it correct to assume that such cost would necessarity be recovered by way of excise duty mechanism. When the INPC, in consultation as necessary, with my Department, have made all necessary arrangements as regards the "mix" of crude oil to be fed into Whitegate and have established the exact nature and level of their operating programmes, only then will it be possible to identify with precision what the operating costs will be. Until that stage is reached it would be impossible to quantify accurately the possible impact on oil product prices. It is fair to say, however, that indications are that any additional per gallon cost which might arise is unlikely to be significant. Indeed I am most anxious to ensure, in all relevant arrangements being made, that the cost is minimised. I will continue to impress on the board the need to achieve the highest degree of competitiveness possible, consistent with the technical and marketing circumstances applicable.

Is the Minister aware that the Minister for Industry and Energy, Deputy Reynolds, and a senior official in his Department stated at the time the contracts were being finalised that the extra cost would be 1p per gallon? I am seriously disturbed at the elusiveness of the Minister's reply today. Is he further aware it is very important that the extra cost of processing oil at the refinery must be seen to be transparent from the point of view of the public? It is very important that this transparency should be indicated on a monthly basis to the public and to this House.

I am afraid that the Deputy must accept that until all the matters I have mentioned have been gone into, the exact mix which will be fed into the Whitegate refinery, the areas from which the crude oil will come and the level of operation of the refinery, it will not be possible to say what effect it will have on the price and the operation costs, which will undoubtedly have to be recouped. I have no information at my disposal which indicates it will be more than 1p or less than 1p.

In an earlier answer, the Minister said that the decision to buy the refinery was a marginal decision with possible adverse economic effects on this country. In that context, is the Minister aware that the Minister for Industry and Energy stated in public that the extra cost of operating the oil refinery will be 1p per gallon?

It could be more but I have no definite information to indicate that it will be more than a penny or less than a penny.

The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.