23. —(1) The Gas Act, 1976, is amended, on the appointed day—

(a) in section 2—

(i) by the substitution for the definition of “Commission” of the following definition:

“ ‘the Commission’ means the Commission for Energy Regulation;”,

(ii) by the insertion after the definition of “the Company” of the following definition:

“ ‘customer’ means a wholesale or final customer of natural gas and natural gas undertakings who purchases natural gas;”,

(iii) by the insertion before the definition of “deviation limits” of the following definition:

“ ‘designated area’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Continental Shelf Act, 1968;”,

(iv) in the definition of “pipeline” by the substitution for “transmission” of “transportation”, and

(v) by the insertion after the definition of “seashore” of the following definition:

“ ‘upstream pipeline’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act, 2002;”,

(b) in section 20(2), by the substitution for “ £100” of “ €600”,

(c) in section 21, by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsections:

“(3) Notwithstanding the generality of subsection (1) and for the avoidance of doubt, the Board shall not, without the prior approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for Finance, construct a pipeline.

(4) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by notice in writing delivered to the Board declare that subsection (3) shall not apply to the construction of pipelines or specified pipelines or classes of pipelines in a specified area and, whenever a notice under this paragraph is in force, subsection (3) shall not apply in relation to the construction of pipelines, or those pipelines or classes of pipelines specified in the notice, in the area specified in the notice.”,

(d) in section 26—

(i) in subsection (1)(c), by the substitution for “section 8(7) or 40(1) of this Act or, as the case may be, the giving of previous or reasonable notice under the said section 40(1),” of “section 39A(1) of this Act”, and

(ii) by the insertion after subsection (1) (as amended by section 20 of the Act of 2000) of the following subsection:

“(1A) Notwithstanding the generality of subsection (1), an authorised person may only enter land under this section for the purposes mentioned in paragraphs (c) and (d) of that subsection where—

(a) in the case of a pipeline other than an upstream pipeline, the Board has notified the Commission in writing of its intention to make an application for the Commission's consent under section 39A(1) in relation to the construction of a pipeline and in respect of which notification the Commission provides a certificate to the Board, after having made such inquiries, if any, as the Commission thinks appropriate, stating that the notification demonstrates a bona fide intention on the part of the Board to make such an application, or

(b) in the case of an upstream pipeline, the Board has notified the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources in writing of its intention to make an application for that Minister's consent under section 40(1) in relation to the construction of a pipeline and in respect of which notification, that Minister provides a certificate to the Board, after having made such inquiries, if any, as that Minister thinks appropriate, stating that the notification demonstrates a bona fide intention on the part of the Board to make such an application.”,

(e) in section 27—

(i) in subsection (1), by the substitution for “subsections (7), (8) and (9) of section 8 of this Act, or, as the case may be, section 40(2) of this Act,” of “section 39A(4) of this Act”,

(ii) in subsection (2)—

(I) by the substitution for “section 8(9) of this Act” of “section 39A(6) of this Act”, and

(II) by the deletion of “the Commission,” in each place where it occurs, and

(iii) in subsection (4)(c), by the deletion of subparagraph (i),

(f) in section 30(5), by the substitution for “ £50” of “ €600”,

(g) in section 32—

(i) by the substitution for subsection (1A) (inserted by section 20 of the Act of 2000) of the following:

“(1A) (a) A person may apply to the appropriate Minister of the Government for an order under this section (which order is in this Act also referred to as an ‘acquisition order’) to acquire compulsorily any land or right over land which is required by such person in connection with the construction or operation of a pipeline for which such person applies or has applied for a consent under section 39A or 40 of this Act, as the case may be, and, subject to the following provisions of this section, the appropriate Minister of the Government may make an acquisition order in relation to the land or right over the land.

(b) In this subsection ‘appropriate Minister of the Government’ means—

(i) in the case of an upstream pipeline, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, and

(ii) in any other case, the Minister.”,

and

(ii) in subsection (3), by the substitution for “Minister for Lands and the Commission” of “Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development”,

(h) in section 38(2), by the substitution for “ £200” of “ €2,000”,

(i) in section 39—

(i) by the substitution in subsection (1) for “The Board” of “A person, including the Board, who has been given a consent under this Act”, and

(ii) by the insertion in subsection (2) of “or any other person under this Act” after “the Board”,

(j) in section 42(2), the substitution for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

“(b) is a pipeline as regards which a condition has been attached—

(i) by the Commission under section 39A(4) to a consent in respect of the pipeline, not being an upstream pipeline, or

(ii) by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources under section 40(3) to a consent in respect of the pipeline, being an upstream pipeline.”,

and

(k) in the Second Schedule—

(i) in Article 3(1)(d), by the deletion of “the Commission,”,

(ii) by the substitution for paragraph (1) of Article 5 of the following:

“(1) There shall be paid to the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources on every application for an acquisition order in relation to the provision of an upstream pipeline such fee (if any) as the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may fix.”,

(iii) in Article 11, by the substitution for paragraph (d) of the following paragraph:

“(d) where the Board acts in contravention (whether by commission or omission) of the order the Board shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €2,000,”,

(iv) in Article 11(g), by the substitution for “Commission” of “Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development” in each place where it occurs, and

(v) in Article 11(h)—

(I) by the substitution for “and provide that any person” of “and any person”, and

(II) by the substitution for “ £25” of “ €500”.

(2) The Gas (Amendment) Act, 1987, is amended, on the appointed day—

(a) in section 1 by the insertion before the definition of “the Company” of the following definition:

“ ‘Commission’ means the Commission for Energy Regulation”, and

(b) in section 2—

(i) in subsection (1), by the substitution for “may by order confer on the Board” of “may by order confer, or may refuse to confer, on one or more persons, including the Board, concurrently”,

(ii) in subsection (2), (4), (5) and (6), by the insertion after “the Board” of “or the relevant person”, in each place where it occurs,

(iii) by the deletion of subsection (3),

(iv) by the insertion after subsection (5) of the following subsection:

“(5A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the Commission—

(a) may refuse to make an order under that subsection conferring functions in relation to the provision of pipelines in a particular area where it determines that the capacity of existing or proposed distribution or transmission pipelines in that area provided or proposed to be provided by any person, including the Board, who is subject to an existing order under that subsection in relation to that area, represents adequate provision for reasonable expectation of demand,

(b) shall refuse to make an order under that subsection conferring functions on a person, including the Board, in relation to the sale and supply of gas in a particular area in addition to an existing order conferring such functions on any other person, including the Board, in regard to that area until such time as the annual rate prescribed in section 10A(1)(d) of the Principal Act stands at zero standard cubic metres per annum, and

(c) shall, solely, determine what constitutes a ‘proposed distribution or transmission pipeline’ and ‘reasonable expectation of demand’ in paragraph (a) of this subsection.”,

(v) in subsections (6)(a) and (b), by the substitution for “section 8(7)” of “section 39A(1)”, in each place where it occurs,

(vi) in subsections 6(b), (c) and (d), by the deletion of “,with the consent of the Minister for Finance,”, in each place where it occurs, and

(vii) by the insertion after subsection (6) of the following subsection:

“(6A) (a) The Commission may, from time to time, examine charges, and the costs underlying such charges, or any proposals to alter such charges, for natural gas supplied to customers by a person, including the Board, in accordance with functions conferred on that person or the Board, as the case may be, by an order under subsection (1) of this section.

(b) Where it considers it necessary following an examination under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Commission shall issue a direction to the person or the Board in relation to either or both the nature and the amount of any charge or proposed charge referred to in that paragraph and the person or the Board, as the case may be, shall comply with such a direction.”,

and

(c) by the insertion after section 2 of the following section:

“2A.—(1) Where the Commission considers it appropriate, it may conduct a competitive process for the purpose of selecting an applicant in respect of whom an order under subsection (1) of section 2 of this Act may be made.

(2) The Commission may make regulations relating to the conduct of such a competitive process, and such regulations may include—

(a) the period of time allowed for the submission of expressions of interest by prospective applicants,

(b) the criteria for the pre-qualification of applicants,

(c) the period of time allowed for the submission of applications,

(d) the criteria by which applications will be adjudicated,

(e) the terms and conditions that may be applied in relation to the successful applicant,

(f) the lodging of a bond (if any) by the successful applicant, and

(g) any other matter which the Commission considers appropriate and necessary for the holding of a competitive process under subsection (1) of this section.

(3) Where a competitive process is conducted under this section, the Commission shall not be obliged to select an applicant where it considers that no applicant is suitable.”.

(3) Section 26(1) of the Act of 1999 is amended by the insertion after “a direction given under” of “section 23(2) or”.

(4) Section 13 of the Act of 1999 is amended, on the appointed day, by the substitution for subsection (1A) (inserted by section 14 of the Act of 2000) of the following subsection:

“(1A) In subsection (1) ‘duties’ means duties falling to be performed in the course of the performance by the Commission of its functions under this Act, the Gas (Amendment) Act, 2000, or the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act, 2002.”.

(5) The Freedom of Information Act, 1997, is amended in the Third Schedule thereto by the addition to Part I at the end thereof—

(a) in column (2), of “ Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act, 2002.”, and

(b) in column (3), of “ Section 19 .”.

(6) The Act of 2000 is amended, on the appointed day—

(a) in section 1(1), by the substitution for the definition of “Commission” of the following definition:

“Commission” means Commission for Energy Regulation;”

and

(b) in section 20—

(i) the substitution for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(a) save to the extent that this section has application to section 26 of the Principal Act, a person—

(i) in respect of whom the Minister has, prior to the appointed day (within the meaning of section 2 of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act, 2002), imposed a requirement under section 40(2) of the Principal Act,

(ii) who, prior to the aforementioned day, has obtained the consent of the Minister under section 40(1) of the Principal Act,

(iii) who, from the aforementioned day, has obtained the consent of the Commission under section 39A(1) of the Principal Act, or

(iv) who, from the aforementioned day, has obtained the consent of the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources under section 40(1) of the Principal Act,

in relation to the construction, or construction and operation of a pipeline, as the case may be,”,

(ii) the substitution for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

“(b) to the extent that this section has application to the said section 26, a person—

(i) who, prior to the aforementioned day, has notified the Minister in writing of his or her intention to give a notice or make an application for the Minister's consent under section 40(1) of the Principal Act in relation to the construction of a pipeline and in respect of which notification the Minister provides a certificate to the person, after having made such enquiries, if any, as the Minister thinks appropriate, stating that the notification demonstrates a bona fide intention on the part of that person to give such a notice or make such an application,

(ii) who, from the aforementioned day, has notified the Commission in writing of his or her intention to make an application for the Commission's consent under section 39A(1) of the Principal Act in relation to the construction of a pipeline and in respect of which notification the Commission provides a certificate to the person, after having made such enquiries, if any, as the Commission thinks appropriate, stating that the notification demonstrates a bona fide intention on the part of that person to give such a notice or make such an application, or

(iii) who, from the aforementioned day, has notified the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources in writing of his or her intention to make an application for the consent of the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources under section 40(1) of the Principal Act in relation to the construction of a pipeline and in respect of which notification the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources provides a certificate to the person, after having made such enquiries, if any, as the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources thinks appropriate, stating that the notification demonstrates a bona fide intention on the part of that person to give such a notice or make such an application.”,

and

(iii) in subsection (2), by the insertion after “by a relevant person and those provisions” of “, other than section 26(1A),”.