asked the Minister for Energy the total subsidy paid by the State to New Dublin Gas for 1987; and if all of this sum was voted in 1987 by Dáil Éireann.
Written Answers. - New Dublin Gas State Subsidy.
47.
During 1987 £5.6 million of BGE's profits was made available to the Receiver of Dublin Gas Company. This was the only money applied to Dublin Gas Company in 1987 and this was covered by directions issued in 1986 pursuant to Section 11 (2) of the Gas Act, 1976. Such sums remain as debts on the books of the Dublin Gas Company. Also, BGE intend to write off a debt owed by Dublin Gas Company in respect of unpaid-for gas amounting to £16.9 million in 1987.
The Gas Act, 1976, empowers the Minister for Energy, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to issue directions of this kind, and the Act does not require such moneys to be voted by Dáil Éireann. In passing the Act of 1976, the Dáil has, in effect, already decided the procedures to be adopted in relation to the funds in question. It should be noted also that these are not Exchequer funds; the powers given by the Act relate to the application of the profits of BGE.