It is only right that I should thank the Minister for looking after the towns of Mitchelstown and Mallow, but what is the pricing structure? Is it coal price equivalent or will there be a preferential price for the food processing industry because it is vital that they have a cheap source of energy?

There will be no preferential pricing for co-operatives. Pricing will be as laid down in the Government guidelines published in 1982.

What are the guidelines laid down by the Government?

I think it would be to everybody's disadvantage, and certainly to the taxpayers' disadvantage, if we were to make the guidelines commonly known because negotiations are taking place in relation to bulk usage. It is in everybody's interest if that information remains confidential to Bord Gáis Éireann and the Department of Energy.

Have the Department an input into the pricing structure for the supply of natural gas to the co-opertives?

The pricing guidelines were approved by the Government, transmitted from the Department of Energy to Bord Gáis Éireann, and it is their function to implement the pricing guidelines in their negotiations with interested industries.

Since natural gas is in State ownership and the taxpayers have an involvement, would the Minister be prepared to make a statement to the House on the pricing he has agreed with the companies involved?

No, I am not prepared to make a statement to the House.