PART 4

Amendment of Gas Act 1976

15 .— Section 2 of the Gas Act 1976 is amended by substituting the following definitions for “foreshore”, “harbour authority” and “local authority”, respectively:

“ foreshore” means the bed and shore, below the line of high water of ordinary or medium tides, of the sea and of every tidal river and tidal estuary and of every channel, creek and bay of the sea or of any such river or estuary and the outer limit of the foreshore shall be determined in accordance with section 1A (inserted by section 60 of the Maritime Safety Act 2005 ) of the Foreshore Act 1933 ;

“harbour authority” means—

(a) in the case of a harbour to which the Harbours Act 1996 applies, the harbour company concerned,

(b) in the case of a harbour to which the Harbours Acts 1946 to 1976 apply, the harbour authority concerned,

(c) in the case of a fishery harbour centre to which the Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968 applies or any other harbour under the control or management of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, that Minister,

(d) in the case of a harbour under the control or management of a local authority, the local authority concerned,

(e) in the case of a harbour under the control or management of Iarnród Éireann – Irish Rail, that company,

(f) in the case of any other harbour, the owner;

“local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Local Government Act 2001 ;.

16 .— The Act of 1976 is amended by the insertion after section 7 of the following sections:

“Definitions.

7A.— In this section and in sections 7B to 7G—

‘ approved scheme ’ means a scheme or schemes relating to the Board which is or are approved by the Revenue Commissioners, from time to time, pursuant to Part 17 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ;

‘ capital stock ’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 7B;

‘ company ’ means a company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1963 ;

‘ employees of the Board ’ means the officers and servants of the Board;

‘ net assets of the Board ’ means all the reserves contained in the balance sheet of the Board.

Power to create and issue capital stock.

7B.— (1) By virtue of this section, the Board has, as part of its functions, the power to create stock (‘capital stock’) subject to such terms and conditions contained in any capital stock scheme made pursuant to section 7E, in amounts that, in aggregate, are equal to the net assets of the Board.

(2) (a) The Board may, in accordance with an approved scheme, make available to employees of the Board or trustees on their behalf up to 5 per cent of the capital stock in return for transformations in the company of at least equal value carried out by the employees of the Board.

(b) The Board shall issue 10 per cent of any capital stock to the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources without payment and the said capital stock shall be treated as fully paid up.

(c) The Board shall issue the remainder of any capital stock to the Minister for Finance without payment and the said capital stock shall be treated as fully paid up.

Exercise of powers by Minister for Finance and Minister for Communica-tions, Marine and Natural Resources in respect of capital stock.

7C.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Minister for Finance may, in respect of the capital stock held by him or her, exercise all the rights or powers of a holder of such capital stock and, where such right or power is exercisable by attorney, exercise it by his or her attorney.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources may, in respect of the capital stock held by him or her, exercise all the rights or powers of a holder of such capital stock and, where such right or power is exercisable by attorney, exercise it by his or her attorney.

(3) The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources shall not sell, exchange, surrender or otherwise dispose of all or any of the capital stock in the Board held by him or her without the prior consent of the Minister for Finance.

Conversion of capital stock into company shares.

7D.— If further legislation is enacted after the passing of this Act to reconstitute the Board as a company, then the capital stock shall be converted into ordinary share capital in the company in a manner so that the new share holdings in the company equate with the capital stock holdings in the Board immediately before the reconstitution of the Board as a company.

Arrangements relating to rights and obligations relating to capital stock.

7E.— (1) The Board may make a scheme (in this section referred to as a ‘capital stock scheme’) as respects—

(a) the terms and conditions relating to the creation of capital stock, and

(b) the rights and obligations attaching to the capital stock,

and any such capital stock scheme shall be subject to the prior written consent of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the Minister for Finance.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a capital stock scheme made under subsection (1) may include provisions relating to dividends, voting rights, Board representation and the limitation of the transfer or alienation of beneficial ownership in capital stock.

(3) Every capital stock scheme made pursuant to this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it has been made and, if a resolution annulling the capital stock scheme is passed by either such house within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, the capital stock scheme shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Power of Board to establish approved scheme.

7F.— The Board shall have the power to establish an approved scheme.

Payment of dividend into Exchequer.

7G.— All amounts representing dividends or other money received by the Minister for Finance or the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in respect of capital stock held by either of them shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.”.

17 .— (1) Section 10A of the Gas Act 1976 is amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) (a) Subject to subsection (7) and subject to such exemptions as may be granted in accordance with Article 22 of the Directive, where an application is received for third party access from or on behalf of an eligible customer in respect of a downstream facility operated by a person licensed under section 16 of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002 , the facility operator shall offer to enter into an agreement for such access, subject to terms and conditions specified in directions issued by the Commission under subsection (5).

(b) In paragraph (a), ‘ eligible customer ’ means—

(i) the holder of a natural gas licence under section 16 of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002 , for the purpose of carrying out any activity for which the holder is licensed,

(ii) the holder of a petroleum lease under section 13 of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960 , for the purpose of carrying out any activity connected with the lease,

(iii) a person in respect of whom an order has been made under section 2(1) of the Gas (Amendment) Act 1987 , for the purpose of carrying out the functions conferred on the person by the order,

(iv) a person who operates a gas-fired generating station, irrespective of its annual consumption level, for the purpose of providing energy for the generation of electricity at that station,

(v) a customer purchasing natural gas which is not exclusively for his or her household use, and

(vi) subject to the provisions of section 17 (2) of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006, with effect from the coming into operation of this paragraph, any person.”.

(2) (a) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, subparagraph (vi) of section 10A(2)(b) of the Gas Act 1976 (inserted by subsection (1)) shall come into operation on—

(i) such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different provisions or different purposes and in particular the Minister may in any such order under this section specify or delimit a geographical area as respects which the order is to apply, or

(ii) to the extent that subparagraph (vi) has not previously been commenced, the 1st day of July 2007,

whichever is the earlier.

(b) Before making an order under paragraph (a)(i) the Minister shall consult the Commission which shall indicate to the Minister whether, in its opinion, the making of such an order would be in the best interests of the natural gas market and natural gas consumers in the State generally or any part of the State.

18 .— (1) Section 10B of the Gas Act 1976 is amended by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) (a) Subject to subsection (6) and subject to such exemptions as may be granted in accordance with Article 22 of the Directive, where an application is received for third party access in respect of an upstream pipeline from or on behalf of an eligible customer, the upstream pipeline operator shall offer to enter into an agreement for such access, subject to terms and conditions specified in regulations made by the Minister under subsection (3).

(b) In paragraph (a), ‘eligible customer’ means—

(i) the holder of a natural gas licence under section 16 of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002 , for the purpose of carrying out any activity for which the holder is licensed,

(ii) the holder of a petroleum lease under section 13 of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960 , for the purpose of carrying out any activity connected with the lease,

(iii) a person in respect of whom an order has been made under section 2(1) of the Gas (Amendment) Act 1987 , for the purpose of carrying out the functions conferred on the person by the order,

(iv) a person who operates a gas-fired generating station, irrespective of its annual consumption level, for the purpose of providing energy for the generation of electricity at that station,

(v) a customer purchasing natural gas which is not exclusively for his or her household use, and

(vi) subject to the provisions of section 18 (2) of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006, with effect from the coming into operation of this subparagraph, any person.”.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, subparagraph (vi) of section 10B(1)(b) of the Gas Act 1976 (inserted by subsection (1)) shall come into operation on—

(a) such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different provisions or different purposes, or

(b) to the extent that subparagraph (vi) has not previously been commenced, the 1st day of July 2007,

whichever is the earlier.