44. Section 17 of the Gas (Amendment) Act 2000 is amended by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

“(1) The Board may, with the approval of the majority-shareholding Minister given with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, engage in any business activity, either alone or in conjunction with other persons, and either within or outside the State, that it considers to be advantageous to the Board save where to do so would contravene Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009⁶.”.