asked the Minister for Industry and Energy the considerations being given by An Bord Gáis to the supply of natural gas to Blarney, Glanmire, Carrigaline and Ballincollig, County Cork; and if the Cork Gas Company have been asked to implement such a scheme.

Proposals from Cork Gas Company for the provision of natural gas to a number of towns on the periphery of Cork city are at present under consideration including Glanmire, Carrigaline and Ballincollig.

The Deputy will appreciate that any proposals for extension of the natural gas network must be considered in the light of the technical, financial and marketing considerations involved, and I am examining the Cork Gas Company proposals accordingly.

The small size of the market in Blarney together with its distance from the existing grid poses serious difficulties for development there but the possibility of a supply, in the longer term at least, has not been ruled out.

Is there any intention to supply the towns of Midleton and Cobh with gas?

There is a question on the Order Paper about nearly every town in the south of Ireland.

Who will have control of the supply of gas outside Cork city? Will it be the Cork Gas Company or the county council?

There are proposals under general consideration which would involve the extension of supply to Cobh and Midleton. There are also considerable advantages in having one distributor for gas in the Cork area generally. The Cork Gas Company have the necessary administrative, financial and technical resources to carry out the project more quickly, and with less expense to the consumer, than if we had a multiplicity of authorities such as the county council and other urban authorities. The gas company are prepared to invest £10 million in the planned development of the area. Individual urban authorities might be concerned only with their own urban area. The setting up of additional gas administration for towns close to Cork in my preliminary view would be an expensive duplication of existing facilities and would not be of benefit to the hoped-for large number of Cork gas consumers.

When the Minister speaks about the Cork area is he talking about the Cork city periphery or the whole county?

I am speaking about areas which are within a reasonable distance of the pipeline in County Cork. I am talking about having one authority for the Cork area for the distribution of gas.

I take it from the Minister's reply that he is in favour of the Cork Gas Company reaping profits from the gas. Would it not be better for the local authority to get the benefit and pass it on to the public?

It is not certain that the profits will be that great. It depends on the price that will be charged. My preliminary view is that it is better to have one company distributing it in the interest of the consumer and of getting the gas to him as quickly as possible. I have not made any final irrevocable decision.

Has the Minister received an application from Cork County Council for the supply of gas to the county as a whole?

There seems to be a question on every town in the country, including Belfast.

Cork County Council have requested that no licences for the supply of gas outside the borough of Cork be issued before the council make their own submission to become the statutory distributor. They have not made such a submission. If they want to be considered they should make it fairly quickly.