Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 March 2014
617. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress in the sale of Bord Gáis Energy; if a decision has been made as to where the revenue raised form this sale will be spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13531/14]
View answerBord Gáis Éireann is currently finalising a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Brookfield, Centrica and iCon, the consortium selected as the preferred bidder in the transaction process on the sale of Bord Gáis Energy. With regard to the revenue raised from the sale of Bord Gáis Energy, the Government's consistent position is that the funds released from asset disposals, to include the proceeds from the sale of Bord Gáis Energy, should be used to support job creating initiatives in the economy. At Budget time, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform factored a total of €110m into the Estimates for 2014 in respect of projects supported from the sale of State assets. €45m of this will fund part of the advance works associated with the new PPP Programme. Specifically, €25m will be spent on the Grangegorman project and €20m on road PPPs. The remaining €65m will be spent on the continued roll-out of the additional Exchequer investment projects announced in 2013 (€25m on Energy and €40m on Schools). Additional elements of this Stimulus Plan will be rolled out as the various asset sale transactions are completed and moneys are available.
