26 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if Eircom advertised the number of shares to be made available by the company's flotation; the cost of the shares; if clearance was sought and given by the Irish Stock Exchange; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10542/02]

The number of shares to be sold in the offer and the price range were stated in both the main prospectus and the mini-prospectus, which were agreed by both Government and the company. The mini-prospectus was distributed to all of the 1.2 million people who registered their interest in purchasing shares.

The final price of €3.90 was within the price range and just above the mid-point of the range. Application was made to the Irish and other stock exchanges for the whole of the issued share capital of the company to be listed and all necessary approvals were received.